Bad Boys
by Crowlows19
Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are the best, the baddest, and the loudest in their Auror Unit. And now they've been thrown through time to thirty years in the past. How much chaos can these two cause? Rated for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

Alright, I kind of fiddled with some things here just so you know but I will try to keep this as canon as possibly possible. So I hope you enjoy this, and I promise there will be some major action later on. This is Harry Potter with the Bad Boys movie style so this should be real fun. Enjoy and Review!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bad Boys**

* * *

"Harry! Draco's here!" Harry groaned at the mention of his Auror partner. The blond was almost always at the house but the two 'friends' were always in some sort of fight. Old habits die hard and all that shit.

"Thanks Gin!" he shouted back getting up off the floor and putting his newborn son back in the crib. The little baby let out a happy gurgle as he lightly tickled the bottom of his foot. Most of the family was over for dinner that night and while Draco's random and unannounced visits were hardly unusual they sure were loud.

After turning spy for reasons still unknown, Draco had gone through a profound change. When he'd been caught he and the Golden Trio had ended up living as Muggles for a good year and the world had rubbed off on his friend. When Hermione became the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts, Ron had followed as the now permanent Defense teacher. The curse seemed to be broken.

Harry had completed his dream of becoming an Auror along with Draco. The two were assigned to be partners in a Magical Smuggling Unit. MSU did a lot of work in the Muggle world as it was easier to smuggle magical contraband using Muggles and Muggle means so as to trip any magical sensors. It required them to wear Muggle clothes and use Muggle weapons, something Draco liked to complain about but didn't seem to want to give up.

He bounded down the stairs and outside to see the blond in his fancy car waiting for him. He stuck his head out the window to shout at him.

"Get in the car!" he shouted across the driveway. "We got a major tip and Captain Howard wants us to take it." Harry nodded and held up a finger for Draco to give him a minute. He went back inside to find Ginny in the kitchen.

"I gotta go," he told her giving her a quick kiss. "Tell everyone I'll see them later."

"Be careful, Harry," she said. It was their normal routine. She rarely complained about his leaving but always complained about the injuries.

"You know me, babe, I like the quiet life," he joked and avoided her swat at his head. He grabbed an apple and went back to the driveway, getting in the passenger seat. "What's going on?" he asked. Draco backed out and hit the gas to gain some speed down the country road leading away from the house. The car had many magical functions and protections to get all over the country in the blink of an eye. Its transporting system was very similar to that of the Knight Bus and needed a good deal of speed to work, something Draco loved.

"Tip came in about someone taking a very volatile magical artifact from Northern Scotland to a private collector in France," the blond told him. "It's small and they're supposedly following Dumbledore's lead on this one."

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked confused as to what this could possibly have to do with his dead mentor.

"Hid it inside a Snitch," Draco told him with a smirk. "Tipster warned us not to touch it. The artifact gives off an energy that would be building up inside the Snitch and if we release it we might not like what happens."

"Is it Dark?" Harry asked.

"Dunno."

"What's the artifact?"

"Dunno."

"What does the energy do?"

"Dunno."

"You don't know shit," Harry said.

"Not really," Draco agreed. "It was an anonymous tip and we only got so much information, but it looks like a simple bust." Harry didn't answer, opting to bite into the apple and braced himself for his partner's spastic driving. Little did they know how drastically wrong this simple bust was gonna go.

* * *

Professor Slughorn was doing his normal patrol on the ground floor of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry near midnight when it happened. Security had been increased dramatically with all the attacks from Death Eaters and, every now and then, the Dark Lord himself at various locations. The Headmaster was worried that Hogwarts was on their 'To Attack" list. It was shaping up to be one of the worst wars the Wizarding world had ever seen and everyone was on edge and suspicious.

Slughorn was having his doubts about the Light winning against the seemingly all powerful snake man. Dumbledore was powerful, there was no doubt about it, but it was plainly obvious even to him that the man was no soldier. He could lead, he could manipulate but when it came to fighting in the field Dumbledore was too passive.

Slughorn had once heard someone say that the old man would over think things. So far this 'war' had consisted of raids and duels. Even the Death Eaters, while using Dark and nasty curses, didn't tend to fight too dirty. At the moment the two sides were more or less at a standstill and everything and everyone was waiting for something. Slughorn didn't know what, but it felt like it would be big.

He was passing a window near the locked front doors when he saw a strange light coming from the Forbidden Forest behind the Gamekeeper's cabin. It was a bright blue light that was punctured by the trees, casting long shadows across the front lawn.

He had never seen anything like it but the Potions Professor did know that it was within the wards of Hogwarts. With that thought came a small spike of panic before he shoved it down in favor for fishing through his robes for the communication device Dumbledore insisted they carry. He pressed a red button on the side and a magical pulse was sent to the boxes of the other teachers alerting them to the fact that there was a situation.

He kept an eye on the light, still pulsating through the trees with no sign of stopping, as he heard the sound of feet behind him. The Headmaster, McGonagall, and Flitwick were all hurrying towards him.

"What is it Horace?" Dumbledore asked, eyes no longer twinkling. The boxes were only supposed to be used in the event of an extreme emergency, like if the Dark Lord was marching down the front path. You know, that sort of thing.

"Look outside," he said standing aside so the older man could get to the window. "Do you see that light?"

"Do you know what it is?" Dumbledore asked.

"No," Horace replied. "I just saw it start and pressed the button. I didn't see what caused it."

"Minerva, Filius, stay here and guard the castle," Dumbledore ordered going into what Slughorn often thought of as General mode. "Horace, come with me." And suddenly the doors were opened and the two of them were going across the lawn towards the forest, wands drawn and ready to fight. As they closed in on the trees, the light disappeared. Horace glanced over at Albus, who kept his eyes ahead and his back tense.

They had barely walked three minutes when they hit the first clearing and a very strange sight. In the middle of the clearing was a very nice and expensive looking Muggle car. It was black with a thin dark green line running down the body. Albus had spent some time in the Muggle world and knew enough about the Muggle contraptions to know the more obvious facts.

White smoke was coming from where the hood was and they'd reached the clearing just in time to see the last of the blue light fade away into the body of the car. Suddenly the door on the driver's side flew open and a young man stepped out.

He looked a good deal like one of Albus's seventh year students with his platinum blond hair, grey eyes, and aristocratic features. Only he looked a few years older than Lucius Malfoy. However, the similarities stopped there. This man was wearing Muggle clothes. Dark jeans, a white t-shirt that had a silver and green vest over it, and white high top Nikes. He also had a holster with a Muggle weapon under his open vest.

Albus thought he would have to strain to hear what he was saying across the clearing but luckily the young man was yelling very angrily so it wasn't too difficult.

"For the love magic, I told you not to touch the mother fucking Snitch," he shouted as he went to the car's front hood and popped it open, allowing even more smoke to escape. "So what did you do?"

The other door of the car opened to the sound of, "I touched the Snitch."

"That's that bullshit I was talking about," the blond said. A second man came out of the car to stand beside the first.

Albus instantly thought of another student of his as well. This man looked like an older, but slightly different, James Potter. He was wearing baggy blue jeans, leather work boots, and a dark red sleeveless, zip up shirt, that also had a hood. His dark hair stuck up in every direction and even from a distance Albus could see his bright green eyes.

"What can I say?" the dark haired man asked. "I am a Seeker."

"No, you're an idiot," the blond replied. "I told you not to touch it. We had no idea what it would do." The black haired man looked around at the clearing.

"Well, if it makes you feel better we're in the clearing right by Hagrid's hut," he said. "I recognize it."

"How could you possibly recognize a clearing?" the blond asked sparing the other man an exasperated look. "It probably looks like every other clearing in any other fucking forest."

"This is where we ganked that nasty Death Eater that chased us all the way from the seventh floor," the man said to Albus Dumbledore's complete and utter confusion. "You remember that fight; we nearly set the forest on fire."

"Whatever," the blond said finally stepping away from his car. "Engine's fried. Let's get up to the castle, get some food. It's been a long fucking day." They turned and started walking towards where Albus and Horace were hidden in the shadows. Albus gave Horace a stiff nod and they moved a part a bit, preparing to confront the two strangers and keep them from entering even further into the grounds. Unfortunately, Horace stepped on a twig which snapped instantly under his large weight.

The two instantly froze and wands were drawn in seconds. The two teachers froze where they were and both discreetly cast Notice-Me-Not charms. It hadn't been necessary before.

"Who's there?" the blond shouted out.

"Step out of the shadows!" the other commanded. "We know you're there, those Notice-Me-Not charms aren't gonna work anymore!" Albus had a distinct feeling of unease, about these two. They certainly didn't look like Death Eater's but they _did_ seem dangerous. Albus cancelled the charm, obviously useless against them now that they knew they were there, and stepped out of the shadows, Horace following his lead.

The two looked completely and utterly shocked as he stepped into the light of the full moon, his Potions professor following behind. The blond sent a quick glance at his friend whose grip had tightened so much on his wand that his knuckles were white.

The aged Headmaster could only think of one reason for that type of reaction to come about. He'd seen it many times on Death Eaters when they realized they'd be going to Azkaban in mere moments.

"Hello," Albus said, purposefully keeping his voice light. "May I ask what you're doing on my school's grounds?" The two didn't answer him but the blond did send another look to his shorter friend. "I'm afraid you are rather close to trespassing. Care to explain who you are?"

"Back at you, old man," the blond responded with a forced sneer. However, Albus could easily tell by his eyes that he was being thrown through a loop. That was rather odd. The dark haired man had clearly possessed knowledge of Hogwarts yet they hadn't expected to see him. Odd.

"I am Albus Dumbledore," he said and to his utter surprise the two young men didn't seem to believe him. He hadn't had that problem in a long time.

"Prove it," the dark haired man growled.

"And how do suggest we go about that?" Albus asked playing along for the moment.

"What's your ideal Christmas gift?" the dark haired man asked, eyes narrowing as if he didn't expect Albus to know the answer.

"I have always found myself in need for a good pair of socks," the old man replied and was surprised yet again to find the two lowering their wands.

"Aw, man," the blond said lowly. "At least now we know what the energy did."

"What the hell are you talking about?" the dark haired man asked, glaring at his friend.

"_Tempus_," the blond said and instantly the date and time appeared.

_September 13, 1979_

_12:13:56 A.M._

"Fuck," the dark haired said. "That's really not good."

"No it's not," the blond snapped. "Man I told you not to touch it."

"How the hell am I supposed to confiscate the damn thing if I can't fucking touch it?" The two were now fully facing each other seemingly forgetting Albus and Horace.

"Ever hear of Magic, dumbass?" the blond threw back. "You're a fucking Wizard, act like it! Merlin, I can't believe you even survived this long!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" the other exclaimed.

"Like hell you don't know what that means!"

"No actually I don't, why don't you explain it a little better so my puny ass brain can comprehend?" the dark haired asked in sarcastic tone more biting than any Albus had heard in a long time. The blond didn't seem to have an answer for that and contended himself to simply glaring. The blond let out a frustrated sigh and swept his hand through his hair. His left hand to be precise, which let Albus see his left, bare forearm. Bare but not empty.

The Dark Mark. The dark haired man's eyes widened as he saw it as well. The blond brought his eyes to his arm, his eyes widening as well. It all happened in the space of a few seconds and in that time Albus had already fired off a curse. The dark haired man conjured up a shield in front of his friend and it rebounded into the woods.

Both turned and vaulted over the hood of the car to duck down behind it and use it as a shield to the curses now being flung towards them at great speed from both Albus and Horace.

The blond sent a beam of red light towards Albus who blocked it easily. Most of the curses that hit the car didn't leave any mark. The car must have some sort of magical protection on it. Nothing he couldn't work through. The fight had only just begun.

* * *

"Dammit!" Draco cursed as his car jerked a bit under the force of the dead-now-alive-because-they-were-in-the-past Headmaster's curse. This was a little much even for them.

During the war Draco had turned spy, much like his Godfather but for much more selfish reasons, using his Dark Mark and family history as an all access pass to pretty much anything and anywhere in Voldemort's temporary kingdom. The Light had been sent underground for two years until another year of all out war with battle after battle. When he had been outed, Draco had been forced to stay with the Golden Trio in the Muggle World, pure torture that, but in that time had discovered that he and Potter made a fairly good team.

They'd even managed to become less hostile towards each other, though they did still throw insults at each other at every moment of the day. It was just too much of a habit at this point. Harry was just an idiot.

And it was his idiocy that had them where they were now. He'd told the stupid Gryffindor not to mess with the Snitch. So what does he do? He messes with the Snitch! And the energy that had been stored inside and stashed in the Muggle world, illegally, sent them to the past. Shit!

"This is sick!" Harry shouted above the noise of the ground exploding from the blasting curse that had rebounded off the car's shields.

"We gotta end this before he hurts us!" Draco said back. "We'll need his help to get back!"

"How do you suggest we do that?" Harry replied. "He thinks we're Death Eaters!"

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed!" came the sarcastic reply. "I told you not to mess with it!"

"Would you let it go?!" Harry shouted exasperated.

"No, I'm not gonna let this go," Draco told him. "You sent us to the fucking past!"

The car gave another all mighty jerk and Draco felt himself get pushed along the ground. He glanced over at the idiot next to him and gave a nod. Harry returned it. Time to end this.

He wasn't sure why his Dark Mark was returning but the obvious possibility was the Dark Lord was still alive in this time. But Draco wasn't even alive yet, thus he should have no magical connection to the man through his Mark. Unfortunately, Dumbledore didn't know his position as a spy and that explained the curses being hurled at him.

The two cast Disillusionment Charms on themselves. He felt the peculiar sensation of a raw egg sliding down his body. Since the two wizards firing curses at them couldn't see them anyway they were banking on being able to sneak up on them. It was dark out, despite the full moon, and they were good at sneaking around. They each went around the car from different ends; he went towards Dumbledore and Harry towards Slughorn.

When Harry was within striking distance, at the side so he wouldn't get hit by the curses still flying at the car, he grabbed the wand right out Slughorn's hand and most maturely kicked him where the sun don't reach. The fat man crumpled to the ground as Harry became visible, his wand pointed in the fat man's face.

They were supposed to strike at exactly the same time but Draco hesitated, not really wanting to hurt the Headmaster, who used the moment of hesitation to figure them out and strike. He cancelled Draco's Charm and sent the man flying backwards into a tree, wand flying out of his hand. His back hit the trunk hard and he crumpled to the ground, completely winded.

"Dumbledore!" Harry shouted and the old man turned to find Harry using a disarmed and slightly folded in pain Slughorn being used as a human shield, wand at his throat. "We aren't enemies!"

"And yet you are using my friend as a human shield," Dumbledore pointed out wryly, twinkle long gone.

"You opened fire first," Harry told him.

"He has the Dark Mark," the old man said coldly. "I have no reason to trust you."

"We can explain," Harry said, his voice getting a bit desperate. "We aren't enemies."

"Start explaining," Dumbledore commanded.

"All I can tell you right now is that he isn't a true Death Eater," he said.

"What do you mean that's all you can tell me _now_?" the old man asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"That's a private conversation," came a voice from behind Dumbledore who turned his head slowly and found himself looking at that Muggle weapon he saw earlier. "Drop the wand before I put a bullet in your head."

The old man knew enough of the Muggle world to know that their weapons were a serious danger. However, he refused to drop his wand.

"He ain't dropping shit," Harry said eyeing his old mentor as if suspecting some sort of trick. "Look Headmaster, we aren't here to hurt anyone. We actually kind of need your help. Please, believe us!" He nodded at Draco who took his gun out of the old man's face and came to stand by his friend. Harry released Slughorn who stumbled back to stand by the Headmaster. "We aren't the enemy."

Albus Dumbledore was very good at recognizing a lie, and fake sincerity from true sincerity. He didn't see any lie in the young man's words. He didn't want to fully believe that the blond with the Dark Mark was not a "true" Death Eater, as the dark haired man put it. But the two strangers didn't seem to want to hurt them, and he had opened fire first, meaning any spell they had sent at him could have been purely for defense reasons.

Then there was the fact that they wore Muggle clothes and carried Muggle weapons, something no Death Eater would ever be caught doing no matter what the situation. Those things were too far beneath them. He felt himself inclined to believe them, a disturbing thought in and of itself.

"What exactly are you needing help with?" Albus asked. The two looked extremely relieved at the small peace offering.

"We gotta find a way home," the dark haired man said. "And no, we can't get there by the normal means."

"What do you mean by that, dear boy?" he asked lightly, still suspicious but fully interested.

"That's a conversation for your office," the young man replied. "Don't want anybody to overhear, you know?" Dumbledore nodded and resolved to keep a close eye on the two in case it was some trick to get into the school.

He briefly entertained the notion that he was getting far too paranoid for his own good. But that was what came with war, with Tom's reign of terror. It was just part of the times. He opened his mouth to reply to the stranger when he heard a low growl. They whipped their heads around to the far side of the clearing to see a werewolf emerge from the rustling foliage.

He had completely forgotten that tonight was the full moon in the brief battle he'd just had. _Remus. How did he get out of the tunnel?_

Draco reacted first, with his wand still somewhere in the woods, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger. Harry forced his wrist down at the last second and the bullet landed in the ground several feet in front of the beast with a small cloud of dirt and a loud crack.

"Are you insane?" Harry shouted. "Don't hurt him!"

"Just go!" Draco shouted back at him then turned to other two. "Get out of the woods now!" He then turned tail and ran. Harry ran towards the confused werewolf that was his future Uncle and Professor, changing into a large silver-red wolf on the way. He growled at the werewolf, blocking his path to the stunned Professors, who eventually turned and ran as well.

The large, grey werewolf leaped towards Harry who dodged and swiped at the creature's shoulder with sharp claws. The thing howled and turned to bite at him, but Harry was already running into the woods. The werewolf gave chase and followed him further in.

Harry, still reeling from all the surprises of the night, found himself quickly calculating the werewolf's age. 1979; they would be in their third year. That meant the others hadn't been able to do their Animagus transformations. That meant no Padfoot and Prongs to the rescue. He'd either have to lose Moony or fight him. Shit! It was just not his day.

He felt a swipe to his back paws come from behind as the werewolf caught up to him and he went head over heels down an embankment and into a small creek. He stumbled up and continued running through the water hearing the large paws of the animal behind him as it followed. He needed to get out of there and fast.

Harry darted off into the woods to his right squeezing under a bush and jumping over roots. The dark creature followed with relative ease. Being much younger, Moony was a lot smaller than he was the last time Harry had dealt with him in his third year. That meant the creature could follow much easier.

Harry darted to the left and the animal followed. He risked a glance behind him and saw Moony running full pelt after him. Mouth wide open and yellow eyes gleaming. Harry was shocked to find that the werewolf looked…happy? The thing was fucking grinning!

With his head turned Harry never saw the root in front of him and went head over heels yet again. Only this time Moony was on him in a second. The werewolf pounced on him biting at his ears. Harry pushed at him with a large paw and managed to get the werewolf, close to his size in its youth, off of him.

Harry took the opportunity and jumped onto it snapping at its nose and ended up getting his teeth around the scruff of the creature's neck, careful not to puncture the skin. The creature went limp in defeat and whined a little. Harry released it and backed up a bit to make sure he was okay. It _was_ still Moony after all.

To his complete and utter shock the creature simply plopped down and panted, mouth wide open in a wolfish smile. He really should have expected this. The werewolf was a Marauder after all. Had Moony thought they were playing? He'd had a few fights with werewolves in the war but they had always been under the effects of the Wolfsbane potion and almost always one of Voldemort's supporters.

Apparently, without the potion they were far more animalistic, which he'd known, but thought would only manifest in viciousness. But clearly, the playful side of the animal could come out as well, especially with another wolf-like animal. Again, he should have known that. Sirius had told him about the games they'd play during the full moon.

With Harry still reeling from his supposed game of whatever they'd just played, Moony took the opportunity to come closer and sniff at him. Harry stood still and let him. This was approaching Twilight Zone shit but he could deal. They were trained to deal with anything and everything under the sun.

Moony nipped playfully at his ears then backed up and let out a howl. Harry mentally shrugged and howled right along with him for a few minutes. He'd never get this opportunity again, so why not?

About ten minutes later the foliage rustled again and Harry turned to growl at it in warning. There was no telling what was in this forest. He cut off immediately when a wolf, a _real_ wolf, emerged. Ah, Remus had a friend!

The other wolf came to sniff him and seemed to find what it was looking for because it nudged his shoulder playfully then turned and ran past the werewolf who quickly followed. The two disappeared and even though he was pretty sure he was supposed to follow as well, he turned instead and headed back the way he'd come. He didn't have time to run through the forest with Moony no matter how much he wanted to.

He sniffed his way back to the clearing with the car and changed back into a human. He drew his wand and said, "_Accio_ Draco's wand!" The piece of wood flew into his hand and he made his out of the forest. He didn't see anyone when he reached the lawn so he assumed they'd gone back to the castle. He quickly made his way there.

The castle doors were wide open, light spilling onto the front steps and he quickly made his way into his first true home. Draco, who had transfigured his shirt into a long sleeve one to cover his Dark Mark, was standing with Dumbledore and Slughorn, as well as a younger looking McGonagall and Flitwick. They were talking lowly and Draco shook his head at something the Potions teacher was saying.

Dumbledore glanced at the front doors to see Harry standing there and gave a friendly smile, something Harry had not expected him to give so soon. Draco followed the Headmaster's eye then waved him over. Harry quickly joined the group and handed his friend his wand.

"Thanks," the blond said re-holstering it on his arm.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said. "Little guy was harmless." They looked at him like he was crazy, whether it was because he'd just called a werewolf 'little guy' or 'harmless' or both was left to be determined.

"What happened?" Minerva asked. She seemed distinctly nervous and Harry couldn't blame her; that werewolf was one of her students.

"Well, at first it seemed like he wanted to attack so I turned into my wolf form and drew him further into the woods, you know, away from people," he started explaining. "And then some time during the chase he decided it was a game. I think he was playing tag with me. Then we wrestled and he ran off with a wolf he'd made friends with." They all stared at him again, which after living as the Boy-Who-Lived was easy to ignore. Although, Draco did look like he wanted to punch him.

"Well," Dumbledore said with a clap of his hands to regain the attention. "I think it's time me and these fine gentlemen had a nice, long discussion. Shall we?"

"Lead on," Draco said and the two walked with Dumbledore to his office. The only time they were actually to the man's back was when they were climbing the stairs and Harry thought it was great leap of trust for the old man who thought they were Death Eaters barely an hour before.

When the two entered the office Harry felt his heart constrict a bit at how utterly familiar it all was. The clutter, the gizmos that did who knows what, the phoenix in the corner. The two of them sat in the two chairs in front of the desk without invitation. The Headmaster went to his chair and seemed to sink into it with an air of tiredness.

"Lemon drop gentlemen?" he asked, holding out a tin after taking one himself. Harry gladly took one simply because it was Dumbledore who had asked him. He'd never thought he'd be asked that question again. Draco refused as politely as he could. The blond may have switched sides but he was a Dark Wizard. They didn't tend to get along with Dumbledore.

"Care to tell me what you couldn't before?" Dumbledore asked serenely. Harry hesitated a bit knowing it was going to sound completely crazy but Draco didn't feel any such qualms.

"We're from the future," he blurted out. "2009, to be exact." Dumbledore merely lifted an eyebrow.

"That explains the knowledge you seem to possess of Hogwarts when I know for a fact you have never passed through these walls," he said. Harry didn't even bother talking. "That does not however explain the Dark Mark on your arm."

"There's not much we can tell you other than the Dark Lord was down and out for a little while, came back, and I was recruited during his second campaign. I ended up switching sides though, turning spy. That's why Harry said I wasn't a 'true' Death Eater."

"Harry?" Dumbledore questioned and the two suddenly realized they had yet to tell the man their names.

"I'm Harry," Harry said then jerked his head at the man sitting next to him. "That's Draco."

"And I'm sure the Potter and Malfoy are fairly obvious," Dumbledore replied with a small smile, ignoring the eye roll from Draco and the annoyed huff from Harry as he showed , yet again, why they called him all knowing.

"It's the hair, isn't it?" Draco asked. Dumbledore gave a small nod.

"I'm rather surprised, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said. "I would never have thought someone from that family would choose to wear Muggle clothes and carry Muggle weapons." Draco crossed his arms looking very much like a child.

"It's part of my job," he growled. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and Harry continued.

"After the war, the two of us became Aurors and then were assigned to a special unit that deals with magical contraband, usually Dark artifacts, being smuggled using Muggle means. They do it that way so that there's less of a chance of tripping any Magical censors. However, the Muggles moving the stuff rarely know the truth about what it is so we have to look and fight like Muggles to keep the truth about Magic under wraps."

"Very smart," Dumbledore said looking highly interested. "How did you end up here?" Harry looked a bit sheepish and Draco sent him an annoyed glare.

"We got a tip that someone was smuggling a very powerful magical artifact hidden inside a Snitch and we went after it," he said. "The tipster warned us not to touch it because the energy coming from the artifact hidden inside would be released and probably do something we wouldn't like. We didn't know exactly what but it's pretty obvious now."

"It was an accident," Harry said still avoiding his partner's eye.

"Anyways," Draco said through his teeth. "That's really all we can tell you about anything." Dumbledore nodded understandably. Harry thought the old man was taking this very well when he had absolutely no reason to believe them. He voiced this thought and the Headmaster smiled widely.

"Well, not only do you have knowledge of Hogwarts, but you have knowledge of me," he said. "That was a security question you asked in the Forest, and only close friends would have known the answer to that." The three fell silent for a moment as Harry contemplated the situation he and Draco found themselves in. Their job, hell their pasts, put them in danger a lot and with the types of things they were always chasing down they'd seen some weird things. But this, by far took the cake. God, they had to get home.

"We'll need the library at Hogwarts," Draco said suddenly. "To try and figure out a way to get back."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, of course," he said. "Although we'll need a story to explain you two. The Ministry will be very interested to hear that you're here for no apparent reason."

"Right," Draco said hanging his head in exhaustion so that he was staring at the ceiling.

"It's a bit into the term but you wouldn't happen to have an open teaching position would you?" Harry asked and when Dumbledore let out a satisfied grin he felt he'd just fallen into another one of the man's plans.

"Actually we do," the Headmaster replied. "We've been rotating the staff through the position until we could find a more permanent teacher."

"Let me guess," Draco said sarcastically, head still hanging. "Defense Against the Darks Arts."

"Exactly Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"We'll take it!" Harry said quickly. "D, do you wanna be the teacher or the assistant?"

"What do you think?"

"Assistant it is."

"You will also need to change your looks," Dumbledore pointed out. "Although as you said before it really is just the hair. Especially since you don't have glasses like the Potter men." Harry gave him a cheeky grin.

"Contacts," he said but Dumbledore didn't know what those were. "Never mind."

Harry raised his wand and muttered the Disguise spell, as did Draco. His hair flattened a bit and turned a reddish blond. His eye color moved towards a blue green so that they couldn't be compared to Lily's eyes. Draco's hair kept the same length and texture but turned brown and his eyes turned brown as well. He looked remarkably normal, like one of those people who could fade into a crowd and never be seen again.

"You've done this before," Dumbledore noted.

"Yeah, we've done some undercover work before," Draco told him.

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry said. "Meet Harry Parker and Drake Patterson."

"Pleased to meet you," the old man said with an amused smile. "And welcome to Hogwarts."

"Is there anything else you need?" Draco/Drake asked rather rudely. "It's been a long, strange day." Dumbledore didn't seem the least bit offended.

"Just one thing," he said. "I'm sorry if I damaged your car. Does everyone in your Unit drive such nice vehicles?" Harry was rather surprised that Dumbledore knew enough about cars to know which ones were nice and which ones were pieces of shit. Draco gave a snort but Harry answered.

"Naw," he said. "Draco didn't want to drive theirs."

"They were crap," the brown haired man replied.

"So he bought his own, and he can't do anything subtle so we got that shiny thing outside."

"Hey man," Draco said. "Don't diss my car. I paid two thousand Galleons for it. Zero to sixty in five seconds. It's a limited edition."

"Damn straight it's limited!" Harry exclaimed. "No cup holders, no backseat. It's just a shiny dick with two chairs in it and I guess we the balls just dragging the fuck along." Draco glared at his partner and Dumbledore heard him mutter, "No respect." Unfortunately, Harry heard as well and the two lapsed into a rather pointless argument. The old Headmaster had never heard such distinctly Muggle insults come from Wizards before.

Apparently, their time in the Muggle world was rubbing off on their vocabulary. Dumbledore called a House Elf and managed to break into the argument long enough to tell them that the Elf would show them to their quarters and to have a good night. He had a feeling that it would be extremely interesting to have those two around.

* * *

Next Chapter: Classes and another pointless arguement


	2. Chapter 2

OMG! An update! Anyway this is really more of a filler chapter and it sets up my next chapter which will have a lot of action. It'll be great fun! Read, enjoy, review!

* * *

Harry growled in frustration as he slammed the cover of the book closed. It was barely dawn and he'd had less than three hours of sleep. He was tired but he was determined to get them back to their own time as quickly as possible and before something really bad happened or they accidently changed something. Like them being born. That would be bloody fucking bad. Despite his exhaustion he'd been unable to sleep unlike Draco who'd started snoring five minutes after his head hit his pillow. How he hated that Slytherin.

Not wanting to listen to the blond for the rest of the night he'd gotten up, threw his clothes from the day before back on, and left their shared quarters. His feet had automatically carried him to the library where he'd proceeded to break into the Restricted Section to start some research on that damn energy. The Snitch had sealed itself back up and was currently resting in the glove department of the car. He hadn't been able to see the actual object through the blinding light. And he was having no luck on figuring out what it could possibly be.

Hearing his stomach rumble, Harry got up and left. Instead of going to the Great hall, where he knew he'd have to sit at the teachers table, he headed directly for the kitchens. As usual he was swamped with elf-love and offered an amount of food nobody but Ron could even contemplate on finishing. It was times like these he missed Kreacher where friendly hate was normal and the insults were always creative. He knew Sirius would be rolling his grave (if he'd had one) at that thought.

He ate and then sat, staring at the walls and contemplating his current situation. He'd be in big trouble when he got back for the reckless mistake and if he was lucky would get away with a mere suspension and not a pink slip. That was _if_ they got back. At the moment it looked like a hopeless cause. If the thing that had sent them back had been a powerful version of Time Turner sand it would be different. But he had absolutely no clue on even where to start looking for the answer.

He didn't realize how long he'd simply sat there until he heard the bell ring through the castle signaling the start of first period. He cursed, loudly and shocking several House Elves, and ran out, knowing he was already late. He wondered where Draco was and if the Slytherin was even awake yet. Probably not, he slept like the dead. He reached his classroom fifteen minutes late, having had to stop to take a leak and refusing to run again.

He opened the door and waltzed in as if being that late was a-okay. He nearly had a heart attack when he spotted the younger versions of the Marauders, his mother, and his future Potions Master. Remus was obviously missing and Harry made a mental note to get him some chocolate. He smiled as genuinely as he could, his training taking over as his mind tried to get over the shock. It wasn't as if he hadn't known he'd have them in class at one point, he just hadn't realized it would be so soon. He walked to the desk and started opening and closing the drawers. After slamming shut the last one, which had a tin of lemon drops but nothing else, he finally spoke to the class.

"Alright, since I can't find the damn class list I'll assume everyone's where they're supposed to be," he said, ignoring a certain redhead's shock at hearing a Professor curse and the glee in the Black boy's eyes. "So, I'll be here until they find someone better or I get bored. My name is Professor Porter and I have an assistant who's being lazy and probably won't stumble in until five minutes before class ends. He's not much of a morning person." Several Gryffindors chuckled but everyone else looked a bit too surprised.

"Let's see, who can tell me what you're covering right now?" he asked, and Lily Evans's hand shot up in the air much like Hermione's used to. "Shoot." She crinkled her eyebrows when she caught the Muggle expression but spoke anyway.

"We were just beginning Boggarts, sir," she said politely. Harry grinned somewhat creepily.

"Ah, my favorite little bastards," he said. "Who can tell me what they are?" He nodded to a kid on the Slytherin side of the room not bothering to learn his name.

"They're creatures that replicate your worst fear," he replied.

"Excellent," Harry said and the boy gave a tiny smirk, probably expecting points. Harry refused to give them for something as mundane as that. "Now, what's your best defense?" He called on another Slytherin.

"Ridickulus," he said. Harry nodded.

"Yup, spot on," he said. "Too bad we don't have one around here. It'd be good practice and they're easy as hell to beat if you don't let it get to ya." He went into a full blown lecture after that, even telling a few stories about the Boggarts he'd run across, both in school and on the job. Most were quite humorous and his favorite was of the one that had surprised Ron and had made him scream like a little girl. The class laughed quite generously at that. When the bell rang, he surprised them again by saying, "No homework until I find the class list and curriculum, have a good day!" He was pretty sure he was now the coolest teacher in the school.

-

Draco did indeed stumble in later. He leaned against the back wall as Harry told the NEWT level seventh years about the long term effects of the Cruciatus Curse. They already looked a little pale and he briefly wondered why, in times like these, they hadn't learned this earlier. After one particularly nasty explanation about how it brings insanity in many different forms for both the curser and the victim, Draco finally saw fit to speak up.

"The longer you hold the curse the longer your madness is fueled," he said from his spot in the back, gaining the class's attention instantly. "It's takes a deep seated need to hurt someone to make the curse effective. That twisted desire is the main reason it's considered Dark, not just because it hurts."

"Exactly," Harry continued, thinking of Bellatrix, who happened to be a fifth year in this time. He was dearly hoping he would be able to restrain himself when he saw her. "The curse damages the user just as much as the person it's cast upon, just in a different way. Any questions?" There were none and the class left a bit pale, but some had a thoughtful expression as well, including a certain Malfoy.

"Bit detailed, don't ya think?" Draco commented. Harry shook his head.

"At least they've been warned about the consequences for throwing that curse around," he responded. "This isn't the time to sugar coat shit."

"You're meddling," Draco warned his eyes narrowing.

"No, actually, I'm following curriculum. That was what they told me they were studying. If I happen to give a more detailed explanation about the damn thing than most it's not my fault. I stayed on topic."

"I think they were just meant to learn the bare minimum about the effects and everything about the history," Draco pointed out, remembering how they taught it at Hogwarts back in their own time. He was member of the school Governors despite not having set foot in the castle since his graduation and he remembered the argument that had once erupted when a parent had complained about their child being taught something so Dark. It had taken the Malfoy heir all of five minutes to shut her up permanently and there had been another complaint about it again. Don't ever let it be said that Draco Malfoy was one to shelter the children.

"Well, until I get a curriculum to follow, I'm teaching it my way," Harry responded. Draco smirked. So typically Potter.

-

Harry literally ran into Dumbledore later that day when he was turning the corner to head towards the library. It was late afternoon and classes were done and over with. He had agreed to meet Draco there and together they would go down to dinner as formally ordered to by an irritated Professor McGonagall. Really, how were thy supposed to know that Dumbledore was quite annoying when mulling something over? Of the two of them Harry had been the closest to the old man but had never seen him mull anything over. Deep thought and concentration, yes. Mulling, no.

Draco had point blank refused to be alone with Dumbledore holding onto the firm belief that the old man was going to throw him into Azkaban at the slightest hint of evilness. Harry had thought it ridiculous. Dumbledore was the biggest believer in second chances and would hardly act without proof. In response Draco brought up Harry's long dead Godfather, and an argument had ensued. He was quite calm now though. These types of spats happened all the time; there was no need to hold a grudge.

"Oh, sorry, Headmaster," Harry apologized as he recognized the sparkling blue eyes of the person he'd bounced off of.

"That's quite alright my dear boy," the old man replied cheerfully. "How were your classes today?" Harry felt the back of neck burn a little bit. Maybe he had been too detailed.

"They were great," he replied as steadily as he could. It still threw him through a loop to see the man again. "The kids seemed pretty into it. Well, except the class that was learning about the Unforgivables. I think I freaked 'em out a little bit."

"Ah, yes, I had heard of your very detailed lecture," he replied smoothly but the twinkle only increased. "I was actually coming to tell you that I have taken the liberty of having a House Elf deliver the students' most recent ungraded assignments, as well as the class lists and the curriculums. It is all in your office."

"Oh, uh, thank you," he replied.

"Yes, I would have given them to you this morning but you were absent from breakfast." Harry was keenly aware that Dumbledore was none-too-subtly fishing for answers. He wasn't surprised or even offended really, but the least the man could do would be to make it less obvious.

"Why don't you just ask me where I was?" he asked, a smirk playing on his lips. The only time he really got to verbally spar was with Slytherins and he hadn't ever had a chance to with Dumbledore, unless he counted his portrait, which could talk circles around anyone living or painted except for Snape. The man had been none-too-pleased to be painted and hung up and had been even less pleased to find out that it was Harry who had petitioned for the portrait in the first place. He had only done it because Draco had mentioned exactly how annoyed the man would be and Harry wasn't quite over all the sneered remarks Snape had sent his way.

"That's not nearly as entertaining my dear boy," the Headmaster replied with a small smile.

"I was in the library," Harry said bluntly. "Trying to find an answer to my problem." Dumbledore nodded with a small humming sound.

"Did you find anything?" he asked curiously.

"No," Harry responded with a sigh. And he probably wouldn't find anything either. What he needed was access to the files in the Department of Mysteries; they would probably have that type of information hidden around there somewhere. He'd talk to Draco about it.

"Well, good luck," the Headmaster said. "I do hope you find your answers very soon."

"Yeah, me too." With that Dumbledore brushed past him and continued on down the corridor humming some sort of tune Harry had never heard before. He wondered when exactly Dumbledore had lost his mind.

-

Remus Lupin stared at his friends with wide eyes. He was sorely disappointed about missing the first lesson with the new teachers. Not only were assistants rarely used but it sounded as if this man really knew his stuff. It hadn't taken long for the rumors about the seventh years' lesson to reach all the way down to them. Apparently, they'd even freaked out some of the Slytherins, something James was now willing to idolize them for.

"He was pretty funny too," Sirius continued. "Told all kinds of stories and stuff."

"The best one was when he talked about how his friend screamed really loud when the Boggart surprised him," Peter said, jumping into the conversation. James and Sirius laughed at this but Remus was more concerned about the curriculum he missed, not necessarily the funny stories.

"Did he ask where I was?" Remus asked. He wasn't bigoted or arrogant. He certainly didn't think that the new Professor should be asking about his whereabouts, he just wondered what the man had been told about Remus's monthly visits to the Hospital Wing. James shook his head.

"No, he couldn't find the class list so he just assumed that everyone was there," he replied. Remus nodded absently. He'd have to go and introduce himself and get the make-up work.

"There's no homework either," Sirius said happily.

"What?" Remus asked, stupidly. There was _always_ homework for that class. The other three nodded brightly.

"Yeah, he said there would be no homework until he found the class list and the curriculum," Peter told him, a goofy grin on his face.

"Here's to hoping he never finds them," James said holding up a pretend goblet and bumping it with Sirius's pretend goblet. Remus was contemplating. He didn't necessarily _want_ homework but what kind of teacher didn't hand it out simply because he couldn't take attendance? Maybe one who wasn't planning on staying around for very long? Their banter was cut off when the door to the hospital wing opened and a man Remus assumed to the new Professor entered. He was wearing what looked to be Muggle clothes and had blond hair and green eyes. He was holding a small burlap sack. He smiled as he came up to them.

"So you're the missing kid," he said to Remus.

"Yes, sir," the werewolf responded a bit nervously. The new Professor looked at his friends.

"Don't you have homework?" he asked.

"You didn't give us any," James responded cheekily.

"Scram," the man responded his voice edging on that tone teachers used when they wanted you to do something and do it now. The other three said swift good-byes and left. The new Professor took the chair Peter had vacated and sat down.

"You gave us quite the scare last night," he said. Remus felt his heartbeat quicken at that.

"What?" he asked trying to keep his voice steady. The Professor nodded.

"I can honestly say I've never played tag with a werewolf," he said with a small smile. Remus nearly had a heart attack. He knew? What would he do? Would he expose him? What did he want? "Calm down, kid," the Professor said, clearly sensing the distress. "Nothing bad's gonna happen to you." He tossed the burlap sack onto the bed where it landed right in Remus's lap. "For the aches and pains." The man got up and left swiftly. Remus never even got the chance to look at him suspiciously.

-

That evening saw both newcomers at dinner. For those who had yet to have them in class it was the perfect time to try and gauge them. The Slytherins were sneering, the Ravenclaws contemplating their intelligence, the Hufflepuffs were still getting over some of the surprise they'd gotten during class, and the Gryffindors were gossiping about what the next lessons would be like. The two Professors were ignoring everything opting instead to eat.

Lily Evans huffed in disapproval.

"What's wrong?" her friend, Alice Norman, asked laying down her fork, prepared for a long chat.

"They just don't seem like very good teachers," Lily responded. Alice was actually quite shocked. Lily had never before badmouthed a teacher. "They set terrible examples." And the world righted itself. She was talking about the bad language they both supposedly used in class. The fourth year Ravenclaws had reported that the assistant had called Dementors "the nastiest sons of bitches on the planet." Needless to say that some of the more prim and proper types were still shocked, Lily included. She might be from the Muggle world but she had a strong sense of what was socially acceptable and what wasn't. Teachers cussing in a classroom was not acceptable.

"Oh, c'mon Lily, lighten up a little," Alice said. The redhead glared but didn't say anything else. Alice turned to look at the new teachers. She thought them hilarious and brilliant. She saw them in what looked to be some kind of argument. She wondered what it was about.

-

Albus Dumbledore wasn't quite sure how the conversation had taken such a turn. This was a very rare occurrence as he wasn't often confused. However, the two time travelers were highly confusing and their conversations with its unique blend of future Muggle slang and what he was pretty sure were made up words, made everything rather hard to follow. One moment, the man disguised as Professor Porter was telling him about a few of their missions and the next the two were in full fledged argument. Albus was pretty sure it was over something trivial but he wasn't sure.

"You're a wizard, you could have just summoned the damn thing," Drake Patterson said, stabbing the meat on his plate with much more force than necessary.

"Well, if I thought I'd be hearing about for the rest of my life, I would have just banished the damn thing to Timbuktu," Harry Porter responded.

"I'm not your wife," Drake snapped. "It's not my job to clean up after your filthy arse."

"It's not my fault the damn car has an engineering problem."

"Don't diss my car," Drake snapped. "It's a limited edition and you're never eating in it again."

"Why are you still on about it?" Harry asked, thoroughly frustrated. "It's just a chip."

"It's not about the chip, it's about your lack of respect for other people's property!" the other man threw back. By this time they were shouting at each other, dinner forgotten and completely oblivious to the student and teacher audience.

"Fine we'll just start driving the Unit's car; at least it doesn't attract so much motherfucking attention!"

"That was hardly my fault! I'd want to steal my car too. How was I supposed to know we were being followed?"

"It's a part of your training!"

"Well, it wasn't like we couldn't take 'em," Drake responded flippantly.

"There's another fucking problem," Harry responded angrily. "Why do I always get the thick motherfuckers? That dude was huge!"

"It's not my problem your luck is fucked up," Drake responded.

"Jerk."

"Bitch." The rest of the meal was spent in a stony silence between the two and large amounts of gossiping from all the students.

-

"Are you insane?" Harry shook his head. No, he wasn't crazy, at least not any more than Draco was. "We can't break into the DoM! It's a one way ticket to Azkaban!"

"Only if we get caught and it's not like we haven't done it before," Harry said, thinking of the time during the war they'd been forced to break in to get their hands on a time turner, something of extreme value when executing a risky theft in Death Eater headquarters. Draco hadn't been happy about the plan then either.

"And what happens if we fail? We'll never get back!"

"If we don't do it," Harry said. "We'll never figure out what it was that sent us back."

"You don't even know if they'll have the information," Draco pointed out, arms crossed. It was midnight and the two were in the Defense classroom. Harry had point blank refused to go into the office, terrified that if he did he would have an obligation to actually grade what sounded like the many essays Dumbledore had left there. Their argument was forgotten just like all the others.

"The DoM is in charge of the research involving time travel and the devices that can make it possible. Everything from time turners to flux capacitors."

"This isn't Back to the Future Harry," Draco said, annoyed and amused at the same time.

"How is this _not_ back to the future? We have to get _back_ to the future."

"Puny."

"The point is," Harry said, getting back on track. "They'll be the ones to most likely have the information we need."

"Why don't we just use Dumbledore? He's got to have a contact in the Department. Especially, in these times. It's in the Order's best interest to know what's going on behind closed doors everywhere." Harry nodded at the point.

"True, but we can't let anyone know about us. Dumbledore can keep a secret, but whoever his 'contact' might be might not be so inclined."

"You have to be able to be discreet to work in the DoM, Harry."

"Discreet and secretive are two different things," Harry responded. "Besides, do you really want to trust one of Dumbledore's people with this, knowing how many betrayals that happen during the first war?" Draco thought about it and then shook his head.

"I still think there are better ways to do this," Draco said.

"Noted and ignored," Harry responded with a grin. "It'll be easier now."

"How so?"

"They haven't updated their security yet," Harry responded. "It's still the same obstacle course that it was in fifth year. It was ten times easier to get through then than after Voldemort had the new shit put in." Draco turned it all over in his mind. Involving Dumbledore in their search wasn't a good idea. The man didn't need to know anything about what was going on except the bare minimum. Time travel was too much of a temptation. They were already feeling the pull to change what went wrong. The longer they were there the harder it would be to resist. That was the whole reason that time travel was being looked into. It wasn't the chance to go back and learn something, it the opportunity to go back and change something.

They had to get back and soon. It seemed Harry knew where to go in the department to get the information they needed about how to get back. He decided to just trust the stupid Gryffindor.

"Ugh, fine."

-

Draco was a little freaked out to come across his future Godfather in the darkened halls of Hogwarts on his way back from the Restricted Section in the Library. The thirteen year old was actually not alone outside the kitchens of Hogwarts. Harry's family was there too. Well, four of them, as the werewolf was probably sound asleep. Post transformation nights couldn't be easy. He stuck to the shadows listening to their argument and pointedly ignoring the fact that he should really send them to bed.

"Potter, I can't believe you," the girl was saying. She was standing next to Severus and it was painfully obvious that she was fighting this fight for him while he, in a true Slytherin fashion, was doing the least to get in trouble should something erupt.

"Oh come on Evans, he's a Slytherin!" the dark haired boy blurted out, pointing an accusatory finger at the only Snake present.

"So?" she threw back, clearly not understanding why the two weren't supposed to mix. Draco rolled his eyes. Harry had a very similar attitude even after being on bad terms with nearly every Slytherin in existence for years. It was Potter who'd made the first effort to be friends. Hermione was quick on the uptake. It had taken Ron about a year to stop hating. A mutual thing to be sure.

"So, he's a slimy snake who will do nothing but stab you in the back," Black responded and Draco saw Severus stiffen. He knew from experience that you could call the man every foul insult and name under the moon and all he would do was sneer but call him traitor and you were likely to end up dead. Severus didn't give loyalty easily so when he did, it was fiercely guarded. It explained why he let Dumbledore put him through so many shit storms. Draco saw the boy version of his hero going towards his wand. He decided now was the time to step in.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asked, stepping from the shadows, a sneer in place. Five heads snapped towards him so fast he was surprised nobody had whip lash. "Students out of bed. Do you have any idea how late it is? Curfew was hours ago."

"Professor, we-" Evans started but when she couldn't think of what to say she halted. He raised his eyebrows.

"Well, no explanations?" he asked. He shrugged. "Well, then you'd better get to bed and tell me your excuse in the morning." The Gryffindors looked like Christmas had come early. Draco didn't doubt that Harry would be fast becoming their favorite teacher and while he didn't care about the favor of a dead person he'd never met, he also didn't care about what rules they broke as long as nobody died. He moved aside to give them a clear path down the corridor. "Well, go before somebody who will put you in detention finds you."

"Thank you Professor," the soon-to-be rat mumbled as they quickly passed. They were just about to turn the corner and head to their respective common rooms when he spoke again. "Oh, and fifty points from Gryffindor for instigating house rivalries." All froze in shock and turned shocked gazes back towards him. Potter started to protest but Draco spoke over his spluttering. "These are not the times to purposefully instigate divisions because of a crush, Potter. Remember that." With that he turned his back on them, tickled the pear, and went into the kitchen. He was starving. Arguing with Harry had forced him to cut his dinner short.

-

Draco could feel a large amount of Slytherin eyes on him the next morning. Word had spread rather fast about his 'defense' of the Snake House and his large point reduction from the Gryffindors. Dumbledore was rather amused by the exercise in power and Draco was pretty sure he'd ratcheted up a few brownie points when he'd told the old man why he'd taken the points. The damn twinkle point blank refused to go away and Draco was actually starting to get a little creeped out by it.

Slughorn pointedly said nothing about the incident. McGonagall was quite upset, her natural competiveness forcing her to feel a little irked. Draco hadn't told anyone but Harry and Dumbledore about his reasoning and this only served to irk her further.

"And why exactly did you take that amount of points?" she asked. Harry was flipping through a book about time travel theory and was not in any way inclined to help him out.

"I have my reasons," he responded vaguely. "And I would appreciate it if you respected that." She looked a bit taken aback but quickly pulled herself together.

"I would if I even had a vague inclination of what your reasons are," she responded flippantly.

"Trust me when I say, that your Lions have a bigotry problem," he smirked at her gob smacked expression, ignored Harry's sharp look, stood up and left. He eyed the Slytherins eyeing him as he left. It was the entire damn table. Now that was just annoying.

-

"Was that entirely necessary?" Harry asked, leaning back in desk chair in the Defense classroom, feet propped up on the desk, and shooting waded up pieces of parchment into the wastebasket by the door. Draco was sitting on the desktop reading through the notes Harry had made about the possible energy that had sent them into the past. So far so good.

It looked like that particular energy had to be contained inside something. Well, their container was the Snitch. Unfortunately, that was the only information offered besides the name. _Time Light_. That was what the book called it. Huh, interesting.

"Yes, it was," Draco replied absently as Harry sunk a ball of paper. He'd found a way to give the students their grades without having to do any work. He only checked for completeness. If the student met the length requirement they got full points, if they didn't they got half, if they hadn't done it at all they received a zero. The parchments he was throwing into the basket was the essays.

"You're meddling," Harry responded, throwing his own words back at him.

"You would have too," he responded. "We have to get out of here soon. We can't _not_ meddle. Our sense of right and wrong is a little different from theirs and the more we push it the more we have the potential to change things."

"Agreed," Harry responded and then dropped his voice as students began filtering in for the first class of the day. "We need to do this."

"Tonight?" Draco asked. The sooner they got back to their own time the better.

"Tonight." Harry had to teach after that. Draco sat at the desk and continued studying the notes, thinking. Not only did they have to get back, they still had to close the damn case. Who would want to buy an object filled with Time Light? Did they want it simply for bragging rights, which was often the case, or were they hoping to go back and change something? What he was worried about most was that an escaped Death Eater was the smuggler's client.

They could cause a vast amount of chaos with an object like that. Killing Harry before he could defeat Voldemort the first time was the obvious move if it was a Death Eater. The object was too tempting to turn back over to the Ministry. They'd have to destroy it somehow. They defiantly needed the information that Harry was certain the Department of Mysteries housed. He shook his head in frustration. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Next Chapter: The break in


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! Sorry about the freakishly long wait for my updates not only with this story but with others. It's been crazy lately and I just haven't had the time to really sit down and write. Hopefully things will get better and updates will come sooner.

Anyway, for those of you who caught it-and thanks for pointing it out- Harry's fake name should be Parker not Porter and I will go back and fix that mistake when I have the time. Like I said, crazy. Hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

-

-

The building to the Ministry of Magic looked like any other from the street. In this neighborhood that meant abandoned and rundown. It would be at least another ten years before the city would take an interest in cleaning up the streets and the businesses would move back in making it a trendy shopping area. For now it was not a place to see or be seen in.

This suited the two friends just fine. The less people that were around to see them enter and/or leave the building the better. They had Apperated from Hogsmeade to the alley across the street and were now watching as the last of the workaholics left for the night. The two wizards had cancelled the disguise charms in order to prevent identification should they be seen. Draco was nervous; there hadn't been any real time to plan something that at least seemed doable. The longer they were in the past the greater the chance they had at mucking up the future. Sure this could be their one opportunity to save everyone they loved but what if they accidently made things even worse?

In their experience happy endings didn't come without some sort of price tag. So regardless of the lack of real plan they stuck their guns and they went to the Ministry of Magic to break into the most guarded Department there. The security wasn't the problem-they had broken through it once, they could do it again-the problem was the unfamiliarity with the habits of the Ministry. They weren't even alive, not really even a potential thought, at this point in time, how should they know what was normal and what was not?

"Ready?" Harry whispered from his spot crouched behind a trash can. Draco nodded stiffly and together they silently made their way across the street and into the guest phone booth. The booth was never locked and as long as you had the code to activate it there was really nothing stopping anyone from gaining access to the Atrium. Draco thought it rather stupid to leave such a security breach alone for that many years. The code hadn't even changed since they'd installed the phone booth! At the very least, it one less obstacle.

Harry handed him the visitor's badge that popped out while clipping his to the front pocket of his jeans. Draco looked at his and rolled his eyes. '_Donny Darko, Time Traveler'_. He eyed Harry's slight smirk.

"Really?" he asked sarcastically. "Do have you have to be so immature?" Harry just smirked even wider. The phone booth hit the floor with a soft thud and they exited quickly making their way across the Atrium and to the lifts. Draco threw the badge into the fountain as they passed. They rode in silence to the ninth floor. Voices carried easily in the deserted hallways and they didn't want to risk being heard. They had no way of knowing if the building really was empty and at the very least they were expecting guards, like they had in their own time.

The lift dinged as it came to rest and Draco pushed aside the gate stepping into the corridor. They made their way quickly to the door at the end of hall and Harry crouched, pulling his wand out of his back pocket-a habit he'd never been able to kick-and muttering complicated spells. They had lifted the ward records some time ago when they'd needed information for a case. The Unspeakables were notorious for not sharing so they'd been forced to break in to make any head way on their case. Luckily things didn't change very often or very quickly in the Wizarding World and the wards were still the same. Within minutes they were in.

They passed through the Spinning Room with little problem, marking doors they'd already tried, until they came to the one leading them into another darkened corridor. The walls were lined with mirrors of all shapes and sizes and makes. Some were modern looking, others were ornate frames, and others were simply leaning against the wall as if someone had forgotten to finish hanging them. The ceiling was much the same. They passed through quickly trying their best not to look into the glass. They were cursed mirrors designed to distract intruders with dark images from their past and sometimes even their imagination. Since neither of them looked directly into the glass all they saw were dark, twisting shadows and only heard the barest hint of whispers. They made it to the door on the other end without a problem.

This door merely needed an _Alohomora_ and it sprung open. It had been thought that anyone without the proper authorization couldn't make it that far. However, Draco and Harry had done this more times than they liked to admit and the security measures were quickly becoming routine.

The Record Room was a Ravenclaw's or Granger's-now Weasley- dream come true. There were rows and rows of bookcases crammed with strange objects that would have been right at home in Dumbledore's office, old, dusty tomes, boxes, scrolls, journals, and files all containing some sort of mystery, riddle, or information. The back wall was completely covered by filing cabinets all crammed with a file of a person, place, or thing of interest to the Unspeakables. There were records of experiments, crimes, treasures, and historical facts the general public wasn't allowed to know for a variety of reasons. There were transcripts of prophecies from Seers and Centaurs alike. There was even a whole section dedicated to the kinds of conspiracy theories often heard coming from a Lovegood.

They made their way to a very convenient map hanging on the wall by the door. There was no system that made any kind of sense to anyone. People were known for getting a little turned around. The shelves weren't lined up in straight rows but rather they turned to form a kind of maze- one so extensive it was impossible to memorize.

"Left, left, right, left, left, right, right," Harry mumbled over and over again as he memorized the way to the Time Travel section. Draco kept an eye and ear out for anybody who might still be there. They had cast Silencing spells on their feet but there was always the chance of being caught. Harry nodded and they entered the maze of shelves.

Left.

Past the Magical Creatures sections. One of these days Draco would have to stop and see if Nargles had existed at one point. He was fairly certain they didn't exist now.

Left.

Past Propehcies.

Right.

Past Family Linages. Why the Unspeakables needed a whole section on that he didn't know nor really care.

Left.

Past ancient Poisons and their cures.

Left.

Past records of magical crimes in the Muggle World. Their usual point of interest.

Right.

Past tomes dedicated solely to the art of making tea.

Right.

Time travel. They split up at that point each taking an end. Draco went past tomes on Time Turners, time theories, Time Bunnies, and a recipe for a drug that made you think you stuck in a time warp. Harry gave a low whistle. He'd found the information on Time Sand.

The concept of Time Sand took up two shelves, a small amount considering the amount of information stuffed into this place. Draco pulled off the first thing he saw which was an old looking scroll and unfurled it. He glanced through briefly.

Time Sand: the rarest of magically potent, inanimate, natural things. Left by an ancient sorcerer who had been gifted it by some sort of spirit after his wife died. The spirit gave it to him in order to save her. According to the story he managed to save her life but at the expense of his child's life. The whole price tag thing. The trip into the past didn't help anything and being wracked with guilt he'd told his wife what he had done. Devastated by the loss of her child and what she considered to be a betrayal she fled to her brother's home. The brother came to their home after hearing the story, or at least a version of it, to kill the sorcerer for his wrong doing only to find that he'd stabbed himself with a dagger.

A gruesome story but at least they knew they weren't dealing with something a wizard had invented. It sounded as if this Time Sand was an incredibly rare occurrence. That was probably way it was being smuggled out. The DoM would dearly like to get their hands on it and it would be worth more Hogwarts in gold. Draco set the scroll aside and continued on. There had to be something in here about reversing its effects.

They searched for hours, slowly making their way towards the middle through the various books and scrolls. Draco found that the sand became useless if put into water. The more sand that was together the more powerful it was and the farther reaching its effects became. Time Sand couldn't be artificially made but the closest thing anyone had was the sand inside of the Time Turners. It wasn't nearly as powerful and probably never would be. Whatever magics had created the Time Sand was beyond their understanding.

Eventually, Harry found what they were looking for.

"I got it," he whispered excitedly. He was sitting cross legged on the floor and Draco kneeled down beside him to look over his shoulder at the book he was holding. "The Time Sand's effects are not permanent. Unlike Time Turners, Time Sand wears off. When the magical residue keeping the person in the time of destination wears off the time stream will catapult them back to their rightful time in order to maintain stability."

"How accurate is that?" Draco asked.

"This is the journal of some Unspeakable who used to experiment with Time Sand. He used it once to see what would happen and then wrote down his findings," Harry replied.

"Does it say how long it takes for the shit to wear off?"

"Um," came the discouraging reply as the dark haired man flipped through the pages. "I'm not sure."

"Take it with you," Draco ordered. Harry's head snapped up at that.

"Are you insane?" he hissed. "We can't just start taking things!"

"Well, we aren't done with it yet and we're running out of time," he replied. "We need to start leaving. We've been here for too long."

Harry opened his mouth to reply but never managed to make a sound.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Draco whipped around to find a wand in his face and a group of Unspeakables standing just beyond the corner.

"Shit."

-

-

Remus had diligently looked through the burlap sack the new Professor had tossed to him. There was a strange combination of herbs, some he could identify and others he couldn't. He'd given it to Madame Pomfrey whose eyebrows had shot up at the mixture. A thoughtful look had then come onto her face.

"I never would have thought of that," she mumbled. She turned back to the boy and a soft smile came onto her face. "Mix that with some hot water and then drink it dear. It should take those aches and pains away quickly."

"What is it ma'am?" he asked.

"An ingenious mixture, Mr. Lupin," she replied quietly, another thoughtful look coming onto her face. "An ingenious mixture indeed." She walked back into her office after that giving Remus no opportunity to press further.

-

-

Harry managed to slip the small journal into his back pocket before a wand light swung onto him. Draco had been standing up when the Unspeakables had arrived. It didn't look good. There were six total, clearly a team by the way they stood together in a formation. Their hoods pulled up, eliminating their faces from view but the stiffness by which they stood gave away what they were feeling. Surprise, shock, maybe a little fear: all being overridden by their training and left to be dealt with later.

Two Unspeakables worked their way around Draco and the first wizard to where Harry was still sitting, roughly grabbing him by the arms and hauling him to his feet. He felt hands in his pockets and his gun and wand were removed. He saw the same thing happening to Draco.

"Who are you?" the leader asked his voice cold and rough.

"Well, my name is Marty McFly and that there is Donny Darko," Harry responded purposefully trying to sound nervous which wasn't all that much of a stretch. The dark haired man could practically feel Draco's indignation at the names he'd chosen. He was sure to hear about it later.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked seeming to accept the names for the moment.

"Looking for a book," Harry said. "Do you have any recommendations?" His voice was ridiculously chipper as if being caught breaking into the record room of the Department of Mysteries was a simple minor infraction and not a one way ticket to Azkaban. Harry let out a grunt as he was knocked to the floor by a Hitting Curse. All the force of a punch without the noise and busted knuckles. Affective for a pureblood with delicate hands. Draco's hands were in the air and he turned his head slightly to see Harry holding his gut. Must have hit him in the liver.

"That wasn't nice," Draco said.

"Shut up," the leader responded and grabbed his arm, forcing him to walk in front of him, the man's wand jabbing into his throat. Harry was forced up again and dragged along in a similar matter. "We'll finish this in interrogation." That made Draco nervous. He'd heard stories about interrogation by Unspeakables. It wasn't pretty. They needed out to get out of there and fast.

Draco let himself be pulled along all the way to the Spinning room. The Leader opened a door and they were dragged along another hall, down a flight of stairs, and into a holding cell. The room was dark and felt small. The Unspeakable gave a slightly twisted laugh as he shut the heavy metal door with a clang and some parting words.

"I'm sure your tongues will be much looser come morning," he said. That in no way sounded good. They were thrust into pure darkness as the locks slid into place.

"Donny?" Harry asked, using the ridiculous codename in case they were being listened to.

"What?" he snapped.

"You didn't think to bring snacks with you did you?"

"Shut up Marty."

-

-

The two of them sat against the wall of the room side by side for what felt like hours. Their shoulders and knees were touching they were so close but in the pitch black room it gave a feeling of reality. Draco wasn't sure how this deep darkness was supposed to loosen their tongues. Given a few days they'd start going mad but morning was only a few hours away. All he felt was sleepy.

"What now?" Harry mumbled. He seemed incapable of keeping quiet, something Draco didn't really resent at the moment. It was just another something to penetrate the mind numbing blackness that wouldn't go away whether his eyes were opened or closed. He kept them closed hoping to nod off to sleep. He'd need the rest.

"I don't know," the blond replied. "At the very least they can't keep us forever." He was referring to the Time Sand wearing off. The Unspeakables would only be able to have them for so long. The thought was comforting but not by a lot. A considerable amount of damage could be done between now and the unknown time of return. They could be thrown into Azkaban for days, weeks, maybe even months. Both men had a considerable amount of bad memories to drive them crazy before they could make it home. It was just a very fucked up situation.

Suddenly there was a piercing light to his closed lids and Draco squeezed them shut as tight as he could, quickly bringing his hands up for further protection. The scream of pain to his left told him that Harry's eyes hadn't been closed. Rubbing the spots away he blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the now completely lit room. He stood up slowly, taking in the sheer whiteness of it all. He couldn't even see the corners of the room. There was no line to indicate where the walls began and the floor and ceiling ended. If the floor hadn't been under his feet he'd have felt as if he were floating in a vast nothingness. Harry came to stand beside him, his eyes just now adjusting.

"What the fuck?!" he shouted. "A little warning next time!" Draco didn't say anything. What was going on? His only conclusion was that the Unspeakables were trying to rattle them to the point of asking to be let out, promising they'd tell them what they wanted to know. Death Eaters used a similar tactic but with much more painful methods.

"I think we should sit back down," Draco said slowly. His tone caused Harry to stop his mumbling of curses and nod silently, without question. The dark haired man walked the few feet to where the wall should be and felt around for it.

"The hell?" he mumbled not feeling it.

"What?" Draco asked, worried.

"The wall's gone," Harry replied. He continued walking, searching for some sort of solid point that they could use to orient themselves in the vast nothingness. Harry got about twenty feet before he turned around to look at him, hands held up in an ignorant gesture. The wall was gone. Well, at least they had the floor.

There was a whoosh sound and suddenly Harry was completely blocked from view by more white. The implication didn't register with Draco for a moment but when it did it was crushing.

"Fuck!" he screamed out and surged forward trying to find what had separated them. He'd heard the air move as it fell and the soft thud as it settled. It was real, it was solid. But he found nothing, nothing but air, nothing but an empty void. He screamed out in frustration at the games they were playing with his head. He knew there was something there. Something solid. He just had to find it.

He started walking forward. He would hit something eventually. Expansion charms could make the room much bigger than what it was supposed to be but they couldn't make it go on forever. He'd have to hit something solid eventually. He just had to keep going.

-

-

Harry had much the same reaction as Draco did. A moment of shock and then frustration when he couldn't find whatever it was that had come between them. He, however, did not continue walking. Being careful to face the same direction so as not to get turned around he sat down and then lay down on his back. He shut his eyes and folded his arms over them in order to completely block out the light. No matter how much time seemed to slow in here, they'd have to take them out eventually for questioning. He'd just have to wait them out.

With the white void blocked from his eyes and mind and the hard floor assuring him that there was something that was real, he felt he could beat them at it. And in the mean time, he could get some much needed sleep.

-

-

The Unspeakable who led the team that had found the pair in the record hall watched as one started to move off in search of a wall and the other laid down for what looked like a nap. The room was the same size as before and a very real, very solid wall separated the two into even smaller rooms. The only magics being used were on their eyes and minds. It would disorient them to the point of thinking they were in a vast nothing nothingness. The walls were warded to make them walk around in circles while making them think they were going a perfectly straight line.

It was all rather simple and thoroughly effective. The Head of the Department of Mysteries, the only one to ever really be granted a name to a face in public, was standing beside him at the viewing window. His shoulders were stiff and he was in deep thought.

"What section did you find them?" John Croaker asked.

"Time Travel," the Unspeakable answered. "More specifically, Time Sand."

"Hmm," Croaker said rubbing a hand on his rough chin as he continued to think. "And you say you pulled wands and Muggle weapons off them both?"

"Yes sir," the hooded man replied. "They each had a Muggle firearm."

"Those aren't like any Muggle clothes I've ever seen," Croaker mumbled to himself. There was silence for another few minutes as the man came to a decision. "Leave them in there for another hour and then pull them out into interrogation."

"Yes sir," the Unspeakable replied as the man left the viewing room, door swinging shut behind him and still in deep thought.

-

-

Draco eventually stopped walking laid down on his stomach, head buried in his arms to block out as much light as he could. He figured he'd just have to wait out whatever game they were trying to play and he knew walking around blindly wouldn't help him win. He needed to think with a clear head and he couldn't do that while staring into the empty white void.

Plus, he could use the sleep while he waited. He was determined not to let the Unspeakables get what they wanted no matter how much they were in the right. The two of them had committed what could be considered an act of treason considering the things the department housed. The only thing in the DoM that wasn't classified was the blank parchment waiting to be filled with government secrets.

Draco wasn't sure how long he just laid there but he was aware enough to know when the brightness that had previously been coming from nowhere suddenly cut out. He jerked his up off his arms to see a small room with blank walls lit by one torch. He felt a rush of relief at the sudden shift back into reality. Before he could get up and go touch one of the walls just to make sure it was really there and not another part of the sick joke, the wall to his left sprang up. Suddenly he was staring at a perplexed Harry who looked like he'd just been woken up. The other man was sitting up and stared at him for a full five seconds before he mustered up the energy to speak.

"You okay?" he asked. Draco nodded and pushed himself up off the floor to stand. Unlike before there was a little light and Draco could see the door they'd been shoved through earlier. How long had it been? Was it morning? Had Dumbledore noticed they were gone? That was another set of problems to be dealt with when they got out of there.

The door suddenly opened, the creaking of hinges penetrating the silence that had fallen as they tried to get their bearings. Two Unspeakables entered the small room and began making their way towards them.

"Let's see if you're ready to talk now," the one nearest Draco said. The two Unspeakables moved behind the two men in order to bind their hands. That was their biggest mistake. There was no doubt that Unspeakables were well trained in combat but Harry and Draco were veterans of a nasty and difficult war. They were more experienced with escaping places and that was what gave them the advantage.

When the Unspeakable grabbed his wrist Draco spun quickly twisting out of man's grasp and grabbing on to his arm. He quickly aimed a punch to his gut and then when the man doubled over, he elbowed him in the temple, knocking him unconscious. Harry incapacitated his captor with series of elbow jabs first to the groin, then the stomach and nose and finally a fist to the head. They quickly searched the unconscious men and took their wands. The piece of wood felt lifeless in Draco's hand and he knew doing anything too complicated with it would be hard.

"Gah! He had a hard head," Harry grumbled shaking out his hand. Draco had a retort on the tip of his tongue when they heard footsteps fast approaching. They each hid behind the door and waited. An Unspeakable arrived mere seconds later.

"What's taking you so lo-" he started but was interrupted by the heavy door slamming into his face, just barely missing his nose. The man let out a howl of pain that was quickly stifled by Draco's hand over his mouth. The blond sat on the man's chest, pinning him to the floor.

The blond yanked back the hood and stared into the face of none other than Augustus Rookwood. Fate was such a fickle thing. Their luck had finally returned. He felt Harry come up behind him and knew the other man would recognize him too.

"Alright, this is how it's going to go," Draco started. "You're going to take us to where they're keeping our wands and you're going to do it without any fuss. If you try anything you'll be dead before you hit the floor. If by some miracle you manage to escape my Master will have you killed, probably by me. We can't just leave our messes uncleaned."

The Death Eater's eyes widened when he heard the word Master. Draco cautiously moved his hand away from the man's mouth.

"You're a Death Eater?" he asked quietly sounding almost awed. Must be a low level Death Eater at the moment. Draco nodded and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt to show him his left forearm. Rookwood nodded and Draco covered it up.

"Who are you?" he whispered.

"That's none of your concern," Draco said stiffly slipping back into his aristocratic airs. "I'm assuming you are a servant of the Dark Lord?" Rookwood nodded fervently. Draco stood and offered him a hand. The Death Eater took it and was quickly standing holding a hand to his face.

"Where have they taken our things?" Harry interrupted before they could get into anything further. They needed out to get out of there and fast. Rookwood started off down the hall and with a toss of his head he motioned for them to follow. The halls were thankfully empty and they got to the evidence room without any trouble. A miracle in and of itself.

The two quickly found the evidence box holding all of their weapons. Guns were restrapped into holsters and their wands changed places with their stolen ones. Draco turned back to Rookwood.

"You're going to give us directions out of here and then we have to knock you unconscious," he told him. Rookwood nodded in understanding and began giving him the best way to go. When he was done Draco raised his wand quickly and muttered, "Stupefy."

The two escapees then made their way out of the room and set off towards the exit and freedom. They managed to avoid being seen by the Unspeakables through a variety of spells and careful dodging. The Unspeakables were in a frenzy and an alarm had been raised. The prisoners were loose and they were armed. They made it all the back to the hallway leading to the lifts before somebody caught up with them.

"Protego!" Harry cried out as a dozen spells were sent their way from the Unspeakables pouring out of the department. The hallway was no place for a proper battle and the two were able to hold off the Unspeakables long enough for the lift to arrive. The people down the hall didn't seem to want to break off their shields long enough to fire off many spells. They were reluctant to get hit and that worked in the two escapee's favor.

When the door to the lift opened they squeezed in with two very surprised and very unlucky Wizards. As the lift door closed and Draco pressed the button that would take them back to the Atrium Harry dug his wand into one of the Wizard's neck.

"Make one move and you'll regret it," he said dangerously knowing that the other man was in no position to call his bluff. Draco quickly disabled the other one. Both prisoners froze in fear and Harry thought it was safe to say that they weren't Aurors or Magical Law Enforcement.

They tore from the lift the second they made it to the Atrium only to be met with four Aurors who had been tipped off about escaping prisoners. The two men ducked behind the fountain to avoid the onslaught of spells. There was screaming from the innocent bystanders and people were ducking down behind anything they could in order to avoid the fight.

"We have to end this before someone gets hurt," Harry snapped to his partner.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Draco asked, ducking even lower as a piece of marble nearly collided with his head. The flying piece of debris gave Harry an idea however. Shouting a spell, a bright blue light flew from his wand and hit the statue of the centaur. The rock creature immediately sprang to life in much the same way it had in Harry's fifth year. It sprang from the fountain and charged the Aurors who were too surprised to act properly. The centaur lowered its right shoulder and barreled into two of them, sending them flying.

Taking the hint and smirking like the evil Slytherin he was, Draco awoke the Wizard who took several spells to the chest but never slowed in his movements towards his attackers. The stone figure grabbed each one by the wrist and threw them across the Atrium where their backs smashed into the wall and they crumpled to the ground. The two escapees took the opening and ran to the Apparition point where they disappeared with a pop.

-

-

They didn't Apperate directly to Hogsmeade. Rather they Apperated to just outside the Ministry and quickly made their through alleyways and side streets to another part of London. Then they Apperated to Hogsmeade. The circular route prevented any possibly of their magical signatures being followed. They'd reapplied their disguises as they ran. Draco in his utmost maturity turned around as they crossed the street and cast a Dark Mark into the sky. Harry didn't think it very wise but it wasn't the moment to argue.

When they were finally out of danger it became plainly obvious that they were in some deep shit.

"Crap," Draco almost shouted when he noticed the position of the sun. "We're late for class."

Panting, Harry looked up as well. Mumbling an obscenity under his breath he took off towards the castle Draco right behind him.

They made it to their classroom half hour after their second class started. McGonagall was babysitting the class for them and the fourth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were working on things from other classes. Harry burst through the door causing all eyes to fly to him.

"Sorry," he said to the Transfiguration teacher. "Overslept." Her eyes narrowed in a way that told him she in no way believed him but was unable to question it in front of the students.

"I would suggest an alarm clock," she said stiffly before exiting the room. Harry quickly made his way to the board and faced his perplexed class.

"Okay, who can tell me what Revenge curses are for?" Nearly every Ravenclaw had a hand in the air.

-

-

"Where do you think they really were?" Rabastan asked his older brother. Rodolphus merely shrugged.

"Anna from Ravenclaw said she saw them running to the castle from Hogsmeade during second period," Bellatrix reported. Lucius gained a thoughtful expression and turned to look at the two new teachers who were steadfastly ignoring the other teachers around them.

"There's something off about them," the blond said. Severus turned and followed his gaze. The two men seemed to be having yet another argument about something. Severus couldn't help but agree that there was something strange about them. Parker seemed drawn to the Gryffindors and Patterson to the Slytherins. They were a strange pairing.

The Slytherins felt inclined to trust the brown haired stranger on a small level. He'd defended them against the Gryffindor golden boys and the House of Snakes needed all the help they could get. As the they watched the two suddenly became aware that they were being watched and their gazes snapped towards the Slytherin table. Nobody looked away until Patterson raised an eyebrow. The students quickly went back to their meals.

The gossip, however, never stopped.

-

-

"Where do you think they were?" Remus asked. He'd only just gotten out of the Hospital Wing for his afternoon lessons and had just finished listening to the rumors floating about. James shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "But I heard they were coming from Hogsmeade."

"That means they could have been anywhere," Remus said referring to the Apparition point.

"Who cares?" Sirius mumbled through a mouthful of food. "They were probably just ditching their class. They seem the type."

"But they're teachers," Peter protested. Sirius shrugged it off.

"Maybe but they're really cool teachers."

Down the table Lily and Alice were having a similar discussion.

"I think they're awfully irresponsible," Lily said. "It's only their second day and they're already missing classes."

"Yeah," Alice agreed off handedly. "But they're really cool too." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Not if we don't learn anything," the redhead replied.

"Oh come on Lily, you can't say you didn't learn a thing in their class yesterday," Alice said and her friend reluctantly had to agree. Yes, she had learned something. She watched as the two Professors stared down the Slytherins and smiled a little when the Snakes had to give up. She'd been surprised when Patterson had defended her friend. Not many teachers were inclined to as nobody really seemed to trust Severus besides a spare few. It had been nice to see the Marauders be put in their place.

She also wholeheartedly agreed with the Professor about instigating house rivalries in a time like this. He seemed more aware than the other teachers about what was brewing between her housemates and her friend. There was really nothing she could do except hope it didn't get too bad. She wondered if the two newcomers could help with the terrible tension between the two rival houses. It seemed to be getting worse and worse every year and she could tell that the staff was getting frustrated if not outright worried.

She looked at the two a little harder. Maybe she had misjudged them? It was certainly possible. She knew nothing about them. She decided to just wait and see what happened. It was the only thing she could think of.


	4. Chapter 4

Lunch could have been much worse considering the events of the previous night. Dumbledore kept the two Aurors well within his sights during the meal-not that he really saw anything out of the ordinary. They ate, argued, stared down some Slytherins, argued, and left. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Classes progressed normally as well. Their only hope of making it home was when the Time Sand decided to wear off, so their plan was to continue lying low and hope that they left before the Department of Mysteries found them.

The next morning the news hit about the break in at the Ministry. The Dark Mark was pictured on the front page of the Daily Prophet and although no details were given about the supposed nature of the break in, Harry felt a bit paranoid. He was just waiting for Dumbledore to start piecing together what happened and why. He wasn't sure what the man's reaction would be. They hadn't had any harmful intention but he knew the Headmaster could hardly trust them. And he certainly couldn't defend them.

So Harry resolved to keep low and hopefully convince Draco that strutting about anywhere was a bad idea.

"I'm not an idiot," the brown haired man had insisted when Harry had broached the subject.

"No, but you like attention," he pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to do something stupid! I'm not a Potter." The conversation quickly dissolved into insults about parentage. Needless to say, nothing was accomplished. Sometimes Harry wondered how they were able to accomplish _anything_. Or even how they could possibly still be friends. He missed his wife; she could always explain it to him.

"Professor Parker?" one of his second year Ravenclaws raised their hand near the end of the period. Harry had run out of things to talk about and so had let them have a few minutes of free time.

"Yes?" he answered not sure of the child's name. He wasn't really concerned with learning any of their names. It wasn't like he'd be there for long.

"What do you think of what happened at the Ministry?" the boy asked. Draco wasn't there, having chosen to sleep in, and Harry inwardly cursed. He'd rather have the smooth talking aristocrat field this one.

He shrugged.

"Whoever they were," he said, "was good at what they do."

"What do you mean?" asked another Ravenclaw.

"That's just what I think," he snapped and the students quickly dropped the subject. He felt guilty for a moment for being so short with an inquisitive student. It wasn't as if he had never asked questions like that. As a student your only hope of decent information was to find someone who would spill the beans. He sighed to calm his fragile nerves and then continued in a much more pleasant tone. "The break in at the Ministry is unfortunate. But it has nothing to do with any of you so put it out of mind."

It wasn't a lie nor was it misleading, even if they didn't believe him. Sometimes twelve year olds were just too smart.

* * *

"I received a letter from home," Lucius told the table.

"Oh, good for you," Rabastan replied a smirk playing his mouth as he prepared to deliver some scathing remark. Lucius didn't give him the opportunity.

"Yes, my father told me what he knew of the break in," he replied, and instantly held the attention of everyone in the vicinity. He paused there, not obliged to continue without some sort of request.

"And?" Severus pressed impatiently.

"And," the blond drawled. "Apparently, it wasn't done by Death Eaters. Or least they weren't acting under the Dark Lord's orders."

"Why is your father telling you about the Dark Lord's business?" Severus asked. He had a hard time believing that Abraxas Malfoy, the stony aristocrat who sneered at him every time they met, would be forthcoming about any information, much less sensitive information.

"That's none of your concern," Lucius snapped back. "The point is that these thieves are very good. They were trying to throw the Aurors off their trail and from what the newspapers are saying, it worked."

"What do you think they took?" Bellatrix asked, always one for mayhem and chaos.

"According to the prophet, they never actually got to what they wanted," Rabastan said. "They got caught too early."

"When did this happen again?" Severus asked.

"Early yesterday morning," Rabastan replied.

"When the two new teachers were missing?" Severus asked, eyebrows raised, and his expression clearly stating that he was on to something. All four of them turned to look at the staff table as one.

"Yes," Lucius replied distractedly. "I guess it was."

* * *

"We need to be more careful around the Slytherins," Draco said suddenly from his position in their shared sitting room. "They're getting suspicious."

"When are they not suspicious?" Harry replied

"That's what I mean," Draco told him. "Don't forget that the Slytherins have the strongest connection to the Death Eaters. They're more likely to hear chatter about our set up than anyone else."

Harry let out a large sigh. Why couldn't anything ever be simple with them? The Slytherins figuring things out-or at least halfway figuring things out-was a worst case scenario in many ways. They could decide to blackmail them, turn them over to the Death Eaters, try to recruit them to the Death Eaters, turn them into the Ministry, or simply sit and look at them with smug expressions. None of these possibilities would do any good for Harry's blood pressure though he felt Draco would find some perverse amusement in it all.

"What do you think they'll do if they figure it out?" he asked, finally looking up from his Quidditch magazine.

"Depends, I guess," he shrugged.

"On what?"

"On if we have anything to threaten them with," he replied.

"Oh," Harry replied blankly. He had never been good with the concept of blackmail or intimidation. He was a Gryffindor at heart and such things were taboo among the Lions for the most part. So he resolved to leave it up to Draco for the time being to handle his future family and House.

He hadn't realized that kids could be such a threat but he was starting to see otherwise. Dangerous knowledge in the hands of an idealistic child wouldn't end well. The last thing they needed was more attention drawn to them. He was already positive that upon being returned to their own time they were going to be fired with a vengeance. He wondered if there was any way they could avoid reporting this without breaching protocol. They were never ones to follow rules and protocol but one more suspension and they would be fired.

Harry sighed again. They would have to tell the Captain everything and hope his head didn't explode in rage and frustration.

"What do you think Captain Howard is going to say when we report all this?" he asked the brown haired man who still contemplating his options in dealing with the Slytherins.

"I don't know," Draco replied truthfully. "He'll be angry, that's for sure. What's the statue of limitations for breaking into the Ministry?"

"There isn't one," Harry replied. "It's a government building. Breaking into the DoM is a treason charge."

"Oh, well, then we should leave that part out," Draco replied. "Our files are big enough and I'm not interested in changing my address to Azkaban Prison, cell number 94."

"Yeah, no kidding," Harry replied. "Ginny said that she wasn't going to bail me out of jail anymore now we got the baby."

"Why do these things always happen to us?" Draco asked.

"Because life's a bitch and she hates bad boys."

* * *

Harry noted that a few of the Slytherins began to watch him like a hawk. It was rather nerve wracking to have a teenaged Severus Snape watch you as if you were some dunderheaded Potion student about to blow up the dungeon. He didn't appreciate the intense attention he was getting from his future enemies and Potion Professor. It made him feel two inches tall.

Draco on the other hand acted as if he didn't even notice the new attention he was getting from the kids, but then he'd always loved to be the center of attention. McGonagall was also watching them with a newfound interest. She seemed to just _know_ that they had done something really naughty when they were missing that one morning. Harry didn't think she suspected them of the Ministry break in as much as she suspected them of being irresponsible hoodlums. It was a misconception that Harry gladly encouraged. If she thought they were harmless, if a little wild, it was once less person to be concerned about.

Like children usually do to new authority figures, they tested Harry as a disciplinarian. He was terrible at it. No matter what some wayward student did he seemed incapable of taking points and signing detentions. But a few students quickly learned it wasn't due to any spinelessness on his part. He was simply uninterested in their behavior for the most part. Several Gryffindors took advantage of this in order to prank people in class.

During one particularly nasty confrontation in the hallway before class, he'd overheard his future father making rude remarks to Snape. Harry felt no need to interfere no matter how much he hated to have his father's capacity for cruelty thrown in his face. He and Draco had both left their seats in the classroom to stand in the doorway and watch the proceedings unfold. It wasn't until a hex sent Severus careening into the door jamb that anybody noticed the two men.

The kids froze, expectant of lost points, lectures, and detentions. Draco merely looked at Harry who looked back. Draco then turned to the heavily breathing Slytherin, and with a slight sneer said, "Are you really going to just take his bullshit without a fight kid?"

Severus blankly stared at him, mouth a gape. Draco rolled his eyes, grabbed the collar of his robes and threw him back towards James.

"Defend yourself!" he snapped. "If you two are so determined to fight, let me see you fight!" The class stared at them, completely floored. None of them had heard of anything like this. The only time a teacher ever told them to raise wands against each other was when they learned to duel but that wasn't until fifth year. Also, Professor Patterson wasn't telling them to duel, he was telling them to fight. There was a big difference. Duels had rules and regulations. Fights were a free for all.

"Are…are you being serious?" Lily finally stammered out, breaking the shocked silence that had descended.

"Completely," Professor Parker replied. "Fight." Severus and James looked at each other, a sense of camaraderie breaking through as each wondered if they should. Both were uncertain of the situation entirely. They had been given permission to inflict bodily harm onto each other. That had always been a matter handled away from the eyes of teachers.

Professor Parker suddenly let out a laugh of mirth. "Look at them Patterson," he said. "All gung ho, and tough until they hit the real shite. Class, we have in front of us, an act of hypocrisy." He looked hard into the faces of each boy before continuing, jovial tone gone and eyes narrowed. "If you don't have the balls to fight, don't pretend that you do. One of these days you'll be called out on it and when you are that will be a fight you lose. Some men think of violence and some men know violence. Think about which one you are."

No one spoke.

"You're all late," Patterson said, softly as Parker brushed past him into the classroom. "Everybody inside."

It was the most subdued class they'd had to date.

* * *

"Did you encourage two of the students to fight?" McGonagall asked, tight lipped. It was the kind of look she only wore when she was deeply angry at something. Harry knew that it would take very little for her to jump on their case after appearing so blatantly irresponsible.

"I told one of my students to defend himself," Harry replied more than a little put out at being cornered at dinner by the irate old woman. He'd been hoping for at least one peaceful meal this week. He and Draco had no reason to pick on each other, and so there had been no arguments for the day. Until now.

"By encouraging him to fight another student," McGonagall replied primly. "Are you aware of the animosity between Snape and Potter?"

_Very aware, yes, and unjustly punished for it multiple times._

"I don't care about schoolyard drama," he replied. "It's dull."

"So you decided to spice things up with a brawl?" she snapped and Harry fought down the urge to roll his eyes. He had some self-preservation, despite what Draco said.

"I wouldn't have actually let them fight," Harry lied. He'd had no intention of stepping into the feud. "Potter needs to learn that he's not the shit and Snape needs to find a backbone." He ignored her strange combination of outrage and spluttering. "Besides, are you really telling me that I shouldn't tell my student to defend himself? After all, I am the Defense Professor."

"You should have informed your student that the proper way of handling such things is to walk away and inform a teacher."

"So he can look like some pansy assed tattletale?" he snapped at her. "No, not on my watch."

"It is the proper way of handling things," she replied, stickling to her guns.

"If the 'proper' way worked I would encourage him to use that route," he replied. "But it doesn't and he's smart enough to know that it's only going to make his life worse. The only true way to handle a bully is to stand up to them. Bullies think they're tough and better, but when it comes to the real fight they usually lose."

"That's what happened today," Draco said, breaking into the conversation from Harry's other side. "Potter didn't fight because he doesn't know how and Snape didn't fight because the last thing he wants to be blamed for it all. Really Professor, you should get to know you're students."

McGonagall huffed in irritation but didn't say anything further.

* * *

"I can't believe they were going to let you fight," Rabastan said, stunned. The news of what had occurred that day had swept quickly through Hogwarts. It was an unprecedented event and everyone wanted to know what had happened.

"I don't think they would have actually let us go so far as to fight," Severus replied. "I think Parker was just trying to prove a point."

"What point?" Bellatrix asked. "That they really don't care what we do as long as it doesn't affect them?"

"Don't be narrow," Severus snarled at her. "They were trying to tell us that we don't anything and that until we do know something, we shouldn't bother."

"And how do we get to the point of 'knowing'?" Lucius asked silkily, trying to mask his pure curiosity and ultimately failing.

"I don't know," Severus replied. "Ask Professor Parker."

"I thought it was Patterson who would be more sympathetic to the Slytherins," Rabastan said, swinging the conversation in a different direction. It had certainly appeared that way several days ago after the incident in front of the kitchens but now Severus was rethinking things.

The two men had shown up out of the blue, completely unprepared to teach as was evidenced by the lack of syllabus and roster. And Severus had learned more from them in a week than he thought possible. Parker and Patterson had a tendency to fight whether it was with each other or other people they were always going toe to toe with someone in a verbal spat. But the look in Parker's eyes as he told them about violence had sent a terrible chill down Severus's spine.

There was no doubt in his mind that Professor Parker had known exactly what he was doing and saying. The two strangers _knew_ violence. And it was that it nothing else that led Severus to feel some respect for them beyond the typical respect he showed to teachers.

He wondered what side of the war they were on. They seemed like the type to fight for what they believed in without fail. So what did they believe in? And, most importantly, why?

* * *

Draco was wandering the halls of Hogwarts in early morning, fulfilling his duties as a staff member by looking for miscreants. He didn't think any student would be out of bed at three in the morning. Not unless they were partying but as there were classes in the morning he didn't really think that. Besides this generation of Hogwarts students were a lot more uptight than the students of his days. He remembered parties, firewhiskey, detentions, and hangovers. He remembered fights, tension, and nasty words that had stemmed not from House rivalries but from war.

These students however, hadn't reached that point in history. They would only remember Marauder pranks and Slytherin retaliation with a few nasty words. They were snug in their beds with only a vague threat of Dark Lords and Death Eaters hanging over their heads. The war had yet to reach its most terrible times but it wouldn't be long. A few years in fact. Potter and Evans would marry right out of school, enter the fight, and die.

It was sad to think about but there wasn't anything they could do. He knew it was killing Harry to have his parents thrown into his face like that. People did stupid things in their youth. Harry had, and so had he. And both had known that their parents had been far from perfect. But James Potter had been flaunted as a hero to the Wizarding world and his orphaned son. It was hard for Harry to have to encourage his father to grow up to know violence.

Draco would have never thought him capable of it. But Harry was stronger than anyone he'd ever met so really, he shouldn't have been surprised.

As the clock struck four in the morning Draco turned on his heel and headed back to the rooms for a few more hours of sleep. He hated night patrol. It ruined any chances he had a decent night's sleep but it did give him time to think.

They had yet to hear anything about themselves being found out. The Ministry break in investigation was going nowhere as the Aurors and Unspeakables looked for two people who didn't exist. The Slytherins had yet to stop watching but Draco was confident that they wouldn't figure out a single thing. How could they? What was happening was beyond the pay grade of a school boy.

All they had to do was lay low for the rest of their stay, try their hardest not to change the time line, and get home. Surely they could handle that without getting into too much trouble. Right?


	5. Chapter 5

Harry ate breakfast alone that next morning. He was unsure as to where his friend was and he truthfully didn't care all that much. He was rather enjoying the sudden peace of the staff table, something he'd been unable to experience so far. It was the first meal where none of the others were bothering him for explanations and he wasn't bickering with anyone either. It was rather nice. He savored his breakfast, and easily ignored whatever glances he got from the students. It was much easier to ignore all of them when he wasn't actually surrounded by them.

"Mr. Parker?" Dumbledore inquired and he mentally cursed his sudden lack of peacefulness.

"Yes?" he replied politely.

"What are your plans for the day?"

"Not sure yet," he said. "Why?"

"Saturdays are usually the most rambunctious of the week," Dumbledore replied. "Would you mind patrolling the halls?"

"Of course not," Harry told him genially. "I don't have anything better to do. I'll get Drake to do his fair share too."

"Thank you," the old man said, eyes twinkling again. The rest of breakfast passed peacefully and Harry was soon finished and up and heading back to the room with a couple of pieces of toast in his hand. Draco's room was still dark when he came in and he pulled the curtains back, flooding the room with sunlight. He heard the man grunt in annoyance as he pulled the covers up and over his head.

"Up, up, up!" he shouted and spelled the covers so that they were freezing. Draco yelped and threw them away from him. Harry put the toast in his hands with a smile and left the room, ducking the pillow that was aimed at his head. "Dumbledore asked us to patrol today! Get up!"

"Screw you!"

It wasn't the best comeback Draco had ever had but then Harry doubted the man was even marginally aware of his surroundings. He had never been much of a morning person. Despite his less than willing attitude, the man was up and ready to go in ten minutes, the last piece of the toast being shoved into his mouth.

They spent the rest of that morning walking around Hogwarts. There wasn't that much going on as far as Harry could tell. The Slytherins were keeping to the dungeons for the most part and the Gryffindors were mostly in their tower. Of those out and about, few were causing any sort of problems, at least in their opinion. Neither of them cared much for adolescent indiscretions and were more likely to encourage than discourage.

They did run into the Marauders, who had been raiding the kitchen of all its chocolate. The four Gryffindors seemed wary of them and with good reason. Harry had come down on them pretty hard the other day and he knew he had probably scared them to an extent. Nobody had ever seen the two teachers in action and thus had little idea as to how dangerous they could be. But the Marauders had seen a glimpse of it, as had Snape and all of them knew that the two weren't to be messed with.

"I hope you four left enough sweets for the House Elves to make dessert," Harry said, his tone friendly enough and trying to put them back at ease. It was strange enough to be near them, but for them to be scared of him was something he didn't much care for.

"Yes, sir," Remus said politely.

"Carry on then," the man replied, and the two moved out of their way. The four passed quickly and made their way back to the Gryffindor common room glad to be out of trouble for the moment. It wasn't long after that, that they ran into a group of Slytherins heading to the dungeons from the library.

"Snape, Lestranges," Harry greeted and the three boys stopped in their tracks trying to look innocent and nondescript. It only made the two friends even more suspicious. "What are you boys up to today?"

"Just trying to find something to do, sir," Rabastan managed to choke out. Harry eyed him funnily. Of all the Death Eaters Harry had run across before, during, and after the war, the Lestrange brothers were two he didn't have much history with. Bellatrix was his strongest connection to them and she had always seemed more interested in the Dark Lord than her husband. It had caused quite the talk amongst the DA. Harry's Gryffindor friends had the tendency to be a bit gossipy, unfortunately. Especially, Lavender and Parvati. Those two poked their noses in everybody's business even now. Of course, that last rumor about Draco and the Head Auror's secretary might have been more his fault than the girls'. Not that he would admit it.

"Right," Draco replied, clearly not believing them and snapping Harry out of his rambling thoughts. "What are you really up to?"

"Nothing, sir," Snape replied but even Harry caught the blatant dishonesty in it. He sighed.

"Whatever it is," he told them. "It better not send anyone to the Hospital Wing. Got it?"

"We aren't doing anything," Rodolphus insisted and the two adults immediately felt suspicious. Harry had the distinct feeling that he was being told something. But discrete had never been his forte. He looked at Draco hopefully. The ex-Slytherin had his eyes narrowed but he didn't appear to know what they were trying to tell him either.

"Go to your common room," the man said and the three scampered off as quickly as they could. Both men took out their wands the second they were gone. Harry looked around. Empty corridor, no statues to hide behind, no tapestry hiding a hidden passage. It appeared safe. _What_ had they been doing here and why were they so insistent on telling the professors they weren't doing anything? It wasn't as if Harry and Draco had been anything but friendly until the boys started acting strangely. Snape's stare had been so intense on Harry's. He had been trying to tell them something. Something he couldn't say here. Harry was certain of that.

"Do you see anything?" Draco asked.

"No," he responded. "Why were they acting so damn suspicious?"

"I don't know," the other man said. "Think they saw something, didn't know what to do with it?"

"What could they have possibly seen?"  
"How should I know?"

"Hmph," was the only reply Harry had for him. Something was going on with those three. They had something to say to him. He knew it. And he was going to find out what it was one way or another.

00000

That night at dinner Harry watched the Slytherin table like a hawk. He spared no thought to how creepy he might look but he was looking to see if there was any more suspicious behavior emanating from the Snakes. Unfortunately, Harry thought everything they did was suspicious and so he wasn't entirely sure if what he was seeing was out of the ordinary. Snape looked as if he was about to throw up in his soup.

Harry had never seen the guy look like that. He looked _worried_. Harry wondered what he was worried about.

He felt a sudden pain in his right foot as Draco slammed the heel of his boot onto his toes.

"OW!" he exclaimed very loudly and jumped nearly a foot in the air at the surprise. "What?"

Draco simply nodded to someone over his shoulder and Harry turned sharply to find none other than Minerva McGonagall staring at him with a look of complete frustration.

"What?" Harry asked again knowing he was being rude but not really caring. His toes hurt too much.

"Is there a reason you are looking at the Slytherin Table in such a fashion?" she asked.

"What fashion?" he asked right back.

"You look as if you are waiting for it to explode," she replied.

Harry eyed her and wondered. Since she didn't know him as a student would she be more honest with him about the other students? After all, he was technically her fellow Professor in a position of trust and all that rot.

"What do you know about Severus Snape?" he asked suddenly and she raised her eyebrows sharply at him. Harry was almost inclined to get up and runaway at the look she was giving him. It didn't matter what time they were in apparently, she was just scary. He felt eleven again.

"Why would be asking that question?" she asked him.

"Because he looks like he's going to start crying," Draco inserted and the old woman immediately turned her gaze to where the skinny, short kid sat. He had definitely not hit his growth spurt yet. Harry was actually surprised to hear the woman sigh.

"He has...family issues."

"What kind?" Harry asked. "Abuse?" He wasn't sure what he would do with information like that but he was curious nonetheless. It would at least explain the man's perpetual bad mood. Not that it excused some of the things he'd done not just to Harry but to other people, it would just explain everything. Of course, Harry was man enough to admit that he'd provoked Snape quite a bit in his school days. It had just been so damn satisfying. And Snape had started it first.

"Possibly," McGonagall said. "We have no proof but I know for certain that the lad's parents fight quite a bit and the father drinks more than he eats." Harry looked at Draco who looked just as surprised. He, apparently, hadn't known this about his beloved Professor. The two of them eyed each other and then went back to their respective meals.

00000

Harry didn't like knowing these things about Snape. It made him human. It made them all human. And besides, what could he do? He couldn't interfere in this time. He just...couldn't. But he knew how it felt. The fear, the pain, the worry. Snape's problems were a little different than Harry's but their childhoods were similar enough that it drove Harry to his own bottle.

He didn't drink often but today seemed like a good day to drink. And so he spent most of Sunday pounding down a few bottles of Firewhiskey he and Draco had managed to pawn off of Slughorn. They managed to get sloppy drunk by noon and by three they were dangerously close to a fatal dose of the stuff. Luckily, they ran out before their lives depended on their drunken judgment.

He passed out early in the morning and woke up late. In fact, he was a half hour late for his first morning class. Cussing profusely, he pried himself off of the floor and changed into a clean shirt at top speed. He stopped just long enough to make sure Draco was still breathing and ran out of the door. He couldn't run for long though because of the horrible pounding in his head. It literally felt as if Voldemort had been prying into his memories for hours on end.

Making it to the defense classroom he opened the door to find the kids sitting at their desks and talking loudly. Nobody had had the nerve to outright leave but they weren't squandering the potential social time either.

"Sorry, I'm late," he said loudly and immediately regretted it. The class quieted and watched him intently as he fell into his chair and searched through the desk. He found a pair of Draco's sunglasses and slipped them on hoping that the lack of light would help the migraine. He knew he must look a sight. Pale skin, some extreme bedhead, sunglasses, wrinkled jeans. Even kids this young could recognize the fact he'd had a long night, even if most of them wouldn't recognize the symptoms of someone recovering from binge drinking.

He rubbed his forehead in despair when he found no headache potions of any kind in the desk and looked up to find the students looking a little worried. All expect Snape. He looked disdainful. And despite the fact that Harry was pretty sure he knew _why_ he was getting that look from that particular kid, he couldn't help but feel angry that the guy was once again judging him. It was just so natural to look at him and think 'evil'!

"Okay," he said. "Where did we leave off last week?"

"Boggarts," Sirius told him.

"Right," Harry said and continued his lecture with a monotone and from his chair. He was pretty sure he had passed out for a few seconds at one point but thankfully, no one said anything and he was truly grateful to see the kids and Snape's soul piercing eyes leave the classroom at the bell an hour later.

He managed to fall asleep in his chair, feet propped on the desk, before the next class came in and only woke up halfway through to the sounds of Draco making his own poor attempts to keep the kids entertained. All in all, it was a bad teaching moment.

00000

Harry had escaped to the forest as soon as it was physically possible. Just a few hours before dinner he'd suddenly gotten up from his desk and abandoned the classroom in the middle of Draco's sentence. Harry didn't know what he was talking about but it apparently wasn't that important because Draco didn't come chasing after him. He let him go. He knew Harry needed to be alone at the moment.

It was hitting him hard, their situation. So many faces. People he couldn't save, people who would one day turn on him, on their own friends, people who would die at the hands of a madman. And now, this information about Snape. Snape-his snarky, difficult Potions Professor was only a boy at the moment. He was barely a teenager. He was a child. And he'd been trying to tell him something for a few days now.

Slughorn had asked Harry at lunch if Snape had managed to find him the day before. Apparently, he'd gone to the Defense office looking for one or both of the new Professors. It made Harry wince internally and he'd taken to avoiding the kid all day. He couldn't deal with what he was certain Snape was about to ask him or tell him.

The clearing he came across was perfect for what he was about to do. He rolled up the sleeves of the button up shirt Draco had transfigured for him to wear that day and looked idly at the scar on the back of his hand for a few moments. _I must not tell lies_. Unfortunately, he'd been doing just that since the moment he'd gotten there.

The wand was in his hand almost before he himself could register that it was there and he sent the spell into the closest tree. There was a huge crack that resounded through the fog laden air and the trunk sizzled and burned. He used the spell again and again, destroying every trunk, every limb that he could manage to find. It did nothing for his mood. It just made him more tired and the pounding in his head became sharper.

Eventually, he dropped his arms by his sides and just stood in the center of the smoldering mess, panting hard in an attempt to regain his breath. And then he heard the snap of the twig.

He spun around to see the last person he wanted to see.

"The forest is dangerous," he said. It was the only thing he could think to say.

"It's a good thing I'm with the Defense Professor then," Snape replied and Harry was surprised at the depth of his candor. After all, he didn't know many thirteen year olds with a reply like that on the tip of their tongue.

"Did you follow me out here?" Harry asked forcibly trying to shove away the irrational anger that came with that thought. This wasn't his Potions Professor. Not yet.

"I need to talk to you," Snape replied and then added belatedly, "sir."

"You tried to tell me something Saturday," Harry said and the kid nodded. "What stopped you?"

"Potter was there," he said.

"What?" Harry asked at the seemingly random sentence.

"James Potter," Snape tried to clarify. "He has an invisibility cloak. He was following you." Harry hadn't known that and he felt a little ridiculous for not catching a thirteen year old following him. But he'd been in Hogwarts and even in their current predicament he'd allowed his guard to drop.

"You seemed ready to say it in front of the Lestranges," Harry pointed out.

"They're my friends," the boy replied and Harry flashed back to all those tough times he'd had in his childhood and how many of those moments Ron and Hermione had been glued to his side.

"So what couldn't you say before?"

"Will you teach me?" the kid asked, spitting out the question before he could lose his nerve.

"Teach you what?"

"Violence," Snape replied and the look in his eye unnerved Harry even more than he already was.

"Why would you want to know that?"

"To defend myself," he responded.

"From who?"

But Snape only shrugged. Harry knew he should say no. Snape would go down the wrong path before he found the courage to correct his course. And Harry knew better than anyone what could happen if the violence Harry could teach him was used incorrectly. He didn't want history to deviate. And unfortunately that meant throwing Snape under the bus. Harry felt horrible, but it had to be said.

"No," he said and the utter look of hopelessness that flashed through Snape's eyes nearly had him changing his mind. But he couldn't it. One flap of a butterfly's wings and everything in the future could come undone. He had to deny him. A little boy trying to find security in a life that had previously offered none. The time-traveler couldn't help but think about the memory he had once accidently seen in Snape's head. Two adults-his parents-screaming at each other as the boy cowered and cried in the corner.

Harry watched as the Slytherin turned and left as quietly as he'd come and he felt absolutely horrible. He had been through something similar himself. And it always affected him when he learned that another child was going through it. He knew he had the power to help. He could throw caution to the wind like a true Gryffindor and give Snape the weapons he needed to protect himself. But he wasn't that brave.

He wasn't brave enough to risk the future falling apart. His wife, his child. He had to get back to them and the only way he could be absolutely certain that he could would be if they changed nothing. So Snape had to suffer and Harry had to find the will power to sit and do nothing.

This idleness thing, this do nothing policy they were forced to abide by, it was going to be the end of him. Of that, he was almost certain. His only hope was that they would be pulled back to the future before he was confronted with another situation like this one. He knew Slytherin was fraught with them and he just couldn't handle it. It would kill him.


End file.
